Anyone ever clean a strip of film by wetting and redrying?

P

Pirate

Guitar playing Fotografer
Local time
11:03 PM
Joined
Sep 27, 2009
Messages
1,864
Can this even be done?

Say I find a little more lint got stuck onto the film than I'd like. Can I soak it for a bit, maybe with a little agitation and rewash it through some clean water and re-dry it in a cleaner location to try to get rid of the lint?

It sounds possible to me but I really don't know, that's why I'm asking.

Thanks
 
Pirate said:
Can this even be done?

Say I find a little more lint got stuck onto the film than I'd like. Can I soak it for a bit, maybe with a little agitation and rewash it through some clean water and re-dry it in a cleaner location to try to get rid of the lint?

It sounds possible to me but I really don't know, that's why I'm asking.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Yes, you can. I've done it with old negatives full of dust and grit, it worked for me.
 
Yes, you can do this. I've cleaned the occasional strip of B&W film throughout the years by doing what you suggested plus adding some photo-flo. Works quite well actually.

Jim B.
 
The photo-flo is helpful because it's a nice slippery detergent - it will help particulates slide off the film.
 
When I've done this, I first try to blow off as much dust as possible with compressed air, then I wind it in a reel and wash it as if it were the last step of the development process--plenty of agitation using the Ilford small tank recommendation of 5 inversions, dump, fresh water, 10 inversions, dump, fresh water, then 20 inversions, dump, fresh water + photo flo, 30 seconds of slow up-down/rotation in that, then dipping the whole strip through that soup, then hanging it.
I like to think that changing out the water flushes out bits of dust and other particulate that could end up back on the film.
 
Thanks guys, I'm happy to hear this.

I picked up a Britta water filter so I should be good with using that, it's the super big pitcher size.
 
I do this with all the colour negs I get back from the lab which are, inevitably, dirty. Luckily, I don't use a lot of colour film.
 
Yes you can do that. Be aware that the film is very soft when soaked so it needs careful handling. I have removed particles stukk to film a number of times. I have held
it under the shower for a while then run distilled water with a few drops of wetting agent down the length of the film and then hung it to dry in an area where dust will not be stirred by a breeze. Best of luck.
 
Interesting thread!

After washing a strip of film (I suppose the strip will be anything from 4 to 6 frames long) how do you dry the damn thing? There's practically no space to clip and hang the strip. are there special clips that use the strip's sprocket holes?
 
Arjay said:
... are there special clips that use the strip's sprocket holes?
Click to expand...

Yes.
attachment.php
 
I have on occassion used the pad of my finger to help persuade stubborn particles to detach, even from the emulsion side. If you soak for logn enough and are very careful, even this can work. You can also gently rub away the stubborn drying marks once soaked (film base side). Personally, I go straight for the water and wetting agent soak as this gives a slightly slippery feel to the neg and helps (if you need to rub gently to dissolve marks etc) ensure you dont damage the emulsion. Sometimes even if you end up with one or two tiny scratches thats less troublesome than a blizard of crud to spot and knife out on wet prints.
 
Yes, I have held the film under the shower then carefully let wetting agent run down it and let it drip dry.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom