BW film developing - drying marks

BW film developing - drying marks

  • Yes I do.

    Votes: 625 93.8%

  • No I don't.

    Votes: 8 1.2%

  • I will one day, I promise.

    Votes: 32 4.8%

  • I tried it and won't do it again.

    Votes: 1 0.2%
  • Total voters
    666
Thanks Roman. I didn't know.

jlw - I would be scared to death to try that. No doubt I would pop the film into itself, scratching it badly, and probably sling it across the room in the process, and scare the whole house with the noise (me screaming at what I had done). :D
 
digitalox said:
Ha! But I have two cats. I don't think whipping my film around is going to be a very good idea :)
Click to expand...

Yes, I should have mentioned that this is not a cat-safe procedure!

The instantaneous cat-brain reaction undoubtedly would be: "Snake-like alien creature! Attack! Kill!"

Nose grease can fix a lot of scratches (I'm still waiting for a Nose Grease tool in Photoshop, BTW) but I don't think there's a cure for film shredded by claws...
 
Hey Guys,

Many many thanks for all that incredibly valuable advice. I'll try to unify all these and come up with the ultimate solution.
A cat proof indiana Jones salad spinner .

Many many yhanks again,

Bertie
 
Final rinse with washing up liquid ! works a treat (with distilled water)....have been using this method for the last 15 years without any traces of drying marks......... :eek: I wouldnt let my negs go 2K's within reach of a squeegee!!!
 
This is SUCH a timely thread...I was getting the screaming shits with my b&w developing (a new thing for this Velvia user) because I am always getting slight scratches from the squegeee. And yes, it is a good quality one, it's obviously just my technique. Or something.
Anyway, I love the way there are about 12 different solutions to the one problem!
I'm going to try some of these, I have a couple of rolls to soup up tonight.

Vince, any particular brand of washing up liquid?

tim
 
Washig Up liquid

Washig Up liquid

Earth Choice (phosphate free) :) Aussie made! Lemon flavour. :)
2 x drops per litre of water .I use an eye dropper .

After the final rinse (with the washig liquid),I use a damp chamois leather and lightly run down each side of neg once ( I have used numerous squeegeeeeeeese and have always managed to get a tram line running down neg at some stage,chamois much SOFTER) and leave to dry in a dust free enviroment.

Keep the leather clean at all times and damp (keep damp in a plastic wrapper)
try not to place leather down at any time other than back in its wrapper so not to attract any foriegn debris which could SCRAAAAAAAAAAAAATCH :eek: If in doubt always use a replacement.


I have converted a tall kitchen cupboard (narrow) with a hair dryer mounted into the bottom (from side).....Door opens from front......holes at top of unit to allow hot air to escape.........the negs are attached to a hanger at top and bottom,(not to tight as to stretch film) ,so they dont fly about..............hair dryer set to minimum level........hey presto negs dry within 10 minutes...dust free,WRINKLE and SCRATcH free.....ready for the lightbox :)

Hardest part is to get my wifes hairdryer back without her knowing :eek:
 
Tim forgot to mention!!! when dropping in the washig up liquid dont let it BUBBLE....ie always drop the liquid into the water not water onto the w..up liquid.

Now I must get back to the washing up :eek:
 
I use the same Jessops wetting agent, and have no problems at all. But I guess we have quite pure water here in Norway..
 
I used to have world class drying marks until I moved to a softer water area, and bought a squegee for a friend, tried it on 1st film in new location and found my film dried in a flash (almost) and had no marks. ???? much soul searching

So try distilled or de ionised water for a final rinse, and 2x recommended dose of 'photo flow' or equivalent. I foam the water with the film still in the plastic reel, and then clip to shower rail, stainless clip at top normal close peg (pin) at bottom.

If you want it to dry quicker clean the photo style squegee carefully and give single wipe down immediately you hang it up.

Your mileage may vary, I use the soft tap water instead of distilled, kettle goes 18 months before much signs of a residue.

Not had any drying marks...

Noel
 
I sometimes get irregular white specks (that's how they look after scanning, anyways) along the lower 1/4 of the negs.....but I'm not sure if the negs are upside down or not when in the tank; never checked. I always thought it was dust or some kind of flakes of dried chemical coming off the plastic reel when I wound the film on it.
Sounds like it may be a mineral deposit issue; I'd just wash for 15 minutes with a steady stream of tapwater then use a few drops of Ilford wetting agent and squeegee. No drying marks, but those specks are annoying as hell and all have to be PS'd out. They do not wipe or wash off......maybe I'd better try some distilled water.
 
The water here in London is quite 'hard' and thus leaves nasty white marks quite easily. I find I can minimise these using a squeedgy although I always rinse the blades in the wetting agent solution before squeezing to lessen the liklihod of scratches!

I might try the distilled water route though...
 
Surprised no-one has suggested Photo Wipes. This has been my tried and true method since 1982:

Wetting agent & water, mixed as directed (I used Kodaks for years, but Sprint now- cheaper) I put the wetting agent in a 1 reel metal film tank and take the film from the washer (still on reel) and drop it in. Slight agitation- I turn the reel in the tank 1 or 2x. Then pull out the reel, unload the film and dry off the top of the strip with one half photo wipe folded in half again. I then take another 1/2 Photo Wipe folded in half again and wipe the film with gentle pressure in one continuous motion from top to bottom. A wood clothespin on the bottom and hang from the wire in my closet with a plastic clothespin with a hook on the top.
The Photo Wipe removes all the surface water, films dry quickly without drying marks.

I use the Photo Wipes only once for the length of the film- the same piece works for many rolls of drying the top. The wipes aren't cheap, but have likely saved me hours over the last 25 years in rewashing or cleaning films. I never need to clean a neg- only blow or brush off dust on occasion. My studo is anything but clean, but the films are dry enough when they hang that dust doesn't seem to bother them.
 
Yes I do my own, and have just tried some Ilford SFX. I can't decide if the red filter was affecting the sharpness of the photos (it's not the clearest of filters), the SFX (plus red filter) was showing some IR-like glow (unlikely, going off sample photos), or if it's just focussing errors (not unlikely).

I've gotta buy a rangefinder for Eva. My guesswork's hopeless, and isn't showing signs of improving either.

Oh, and washing-up liquid's good for solving the problem of drying marks on film.
 
Ive had very good results with a little rinse aid in the last rinse water then take it out of the spool and into a basin of cold water. Attach the clips and i take it upto the bath where its hung and lightly squeegeed! Making sure the squeegee is very very clean first!

Though it maybe because in Scotland we have very soft water, perhaps thats why ive never had drying marks. Just scratches once from a dirty squeegee!:bang:



Stu.
 
Luckily I live in a soft water area. A wash in Photo Flo and some squeegee action using my fingers does the job. The one time I used a "proper" squeegee it scratched my negs, and one of the pictures on that roll is one of my favourites, so never again.

Ian
 
When I do my final darkroom build (complete with sink, of course) I'm installing a faucet with a built-in water filter in it. Should help me considerably. I'm actually going to try using the water from our kitchen faucet to develop some film later on this weekend...it has a Pur filter on it.
 
Do the final rinse in de-ionised water with 4/5 drops of wetting agent per film.

If you enjoy cloning out scratches in Photoshop use a squeegee.
 
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