Curling Negatives

2WK

2WK

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So, I have developed about 6 rolls of film so far in my beginning journey of "self development". All of my negs have curled width-wise. :confused: I am wondering if any of you experts could please shed some light so that I can get some flat film.

Here is my process so far...

-Develop in D76.
-Stop bath for 1 minute.
-Fixer for 5 minutes.
-Rinsing...5 inversions, refill, 10 inversions, refill 15 inversions, -refill 20 inversions.
-Photoflo 200 for 1 minute.
-Hang dry from corners of film with clips on the bottom.

I'm thinking that maybe I am not rinsing well enough, but I'm not sure. I based this info off of a youtube video that said "Ilford recommends this process". I have also heard that my negs might be drying too quickly, and that I should make my bathroom more humid by running some hot water in the shower.

Thanks for the help.
 
Curling is not caused by poor washing or by the chemicals you use. It is a function of humidity and the fact that some films do curl a lot no matter what you do. Not much you can do about it.
 
What kind of film are you developing? If it's Tri-X, this is what I do:

Pre-soak: One minute with gentle agitation for 15 seconds
then drain.

Developer: I usually develop for 8 minutes with HC110 or Edwal FG 7 (D76 is similar to both). Gentle agitation for 15 seconds per minute. Drain tank. Gently rap the tank with your fingers between agitation of all chemistry to dislodge air bubbles from the film.

Stop Bath: Two minutes under running water. Drain.

Fixer: I like Photographer's Formulary Archival Fixer (Ilford's Rapid Fixer is also good; follow the directions on the respective bottles for dilutions and agitation times).

Wash: 10 minutes under running water. If you're using Photo-Flo or Fuji Driwel, follow the recommended mixing instructions and immersion times (Driwell is 30 seconds...don't remember what the time is for Photo-Flo)

Hang your film to dry in a dry (not humid) and dust-free (or close to dust-free area) for about an hour. Clip your film at the top of the strip, not at the corners and have another clip at the bottom of the strip.

Try to keep your processing and wash temperature as close to 65-68 degrees F (20 degrees C) as you can. Also, don't just rinse your tanks, graduates, thermometers and etc. Use something like Dawn dish-washing soap and a sponge and wash and dry everything thoroughly. Your developing equipment needs to be clean and dry before you begin to work. Also, if you are using a powder developer like D-76, mix it completely. Store your developer in a collapsible bottle (like the one Kalt makes); the other chemicals can be stored in their containers and mixed as needed for roughly 6 months.

Remember, hamfisted agitation increases grain (as does chemistry that is too hot). Sometimes that's fun, usually it's a pain in the tush.

Hope this helps :)
 
I had 8 rolls of Tri-X developed recently and they all curled too. Since I was going for another week abroad, I took two heavy magazines (one of those 500 page ones that came as junk mail in my post box) and just leave all 8 rolls for a week under the heavy load. I must say I'm impressed with the result. It still has some curl to it, but is flat enough for me to easily insert into my scanner film holder without springing out.
 
Dry the film slowly in the bathroom and if curled keep it for another day tightly rolled up with the emulsion-side facing outwards. Just be careful and avoid scratching the film when rolling it.
 
maddoc said:
Dry the film slowly in the bathroom and if curled keep it for another day tightly rolled up with the emulsion-side facing outwards. Just be careful and avoid scratching the film when rolling it.
Click to expand...

This works very well. But don't leave it for too long rolled up the other way either. But yeah, HP5+ dries beautifully flat.
 
maddoc said it first.

Since I use this method, I read books instead of pressing film with them. Remember aikido - "Maximum efficiency with minimum effort"
 
btgc said:
maddoc said it first.

Since I use this method, I read books instead of pressing film with them. Remember aikido - "Maximum efficiency with minimum effort"
Click to expand...

I have more than 2000 books. I can spare a few! I'm afraid of putting the film backward in the reel, for fear of scratching it with all that handling. I press my film in print-file pages, and that protects them well. Never had one damaged yet. It does take forever, can take a couple weeks! The reel method sounds much faster, but I am over 300 rolls behind in my scanning, so I have time to wait...can work on old stuff while new stuff flattens :bang:
 
It depends on the type of film you use, not the processing. I have cheap film (shanghai gp3) that curls like crazy, no matter what I try to do about it.
 
Chriscrawfordphoto said:
I'm afraid of putting the film backward in the reel, for fear of scratching it with all that handling. I press my film in print-file pages, and that protects them well. Never had one damaged yet. It does take forever, can take a couple weeks!
Click to expand...

I see. I also hang on methods which work for me, yet they may be not optimal. That's nature of humans.

I haven't managed to scratch emulsion yet, though. Probably I have bigger chance for this taking away excess water from film with chamois leather. Or reusing canisters to load bulk film.

But world would be not so nice place drive we all same cars and use same cameras.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I did a reverse roll on my tri-x and it did take the curl out a bit.

J. Borger, I actually developed a roll of Ilford 400 last night and you are right, its flat!

:)
 
I apologize in advance for digging up an old thread, but I am running into similar problem where my negative strip is curling width-wise. I want to emphasize that it is not curling length-wise, where curling it the opposite way and leaving it in a film canister would solve the problem.

They lay completely flat on the film holder length-wise.. but it's the curl width-wise that's bulking the negative up, and as a result, puts a few extra millimeter above the scanner glass as opposed to completely flat. I wanted to bring this question up because most of the forum search I looked into had curling length-wise.

The b&w negative I shoot with is Arista Premium 400, pushed to 1600 and developed in rodinal 1+50 or 1+100. I use Kodak Photo-flo at the end of the development process before hang dry. I'm wondering if the photo-flow is causing the curl, but there's just too many elements to the whole process.


Thanks in advance!
Mark
 
Not a problem bringing up an old thread; I doubt anyone has read them all!

Both methods described here (flatten in a book or curl the opposite way) can help with both width-wise and length-wise curl. When you curl the film back on itself the width-way curl pops back too.
 
Thanks, j j.

I'll definitely try to curling the opposite way method next time. My goal is to get the absolute sharpest scan I could get with the Epson V500.

j j said:
Not a problem bringing up an old thread; I doubt anyone has read them all!

Both methods described here (flatten in a book or curl the opposite way) can help with both width-wise and length-wise curl. When you curl the film back on itself the width-way curl pops back too.
Click to expand...
 
Just curl your film back into the plastic canister backwards. Leave it for a couple hours. Should be much better than before.
 
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