Dust

[Photo_Smith]

In reality photoflow is washed of reels by water just like most chemicals. I've never had any issues with sticky reels as I clean mine with a toothbrush.
In fact I developed a film this evening in a plastic reel I bought 30+ years ago–120 film loaded easily.

 

[Borge H]

I hang my films to dry in the bathroom. I usually develop late at night, so there will be less people using the room. The bathroom is the best place to dry films, I guess the showers take the dust away.

I drop a few drops of fluid dish-wash-fluid in the last rinse. This will eliminate most dry marks. I always rinse in running cold water. Many years ago I got films with many small cracks when I tried using a mixture of cold and hot water. I also now never try to remove remaining water after I have hanged the film. This can give small scratches on the film, if you have small sand particles in the water (which I have). I have my own fresh-water supply, as I live outside a city. I have analyzed the water, it is crystal clear with ph=7 with no bacteria, but it has small sand particles which blocks filters.

If you have dry marks or dust, a simple way to get rid of them before scanning or enlargement is to wipe the negatives quickly with a drop of clear alcohol on a dry cloth or paper. They will then become very clean!🙂

 

[kiss-o-matic]

So, what's everyone's preferred method for getting dust off *after* the fact? I have a few rolls that have some pretty bad dust. I got an air can, but it's not doing the greatest job.

 

[2WK]

Did anyone mention the Ilford Antistatium cloth? If you don't have one, get one. I give my negs a wipe down with one before scanning and life is good!

 

[kiss-o-matic]

Did anyone mention the Ilford Antistatium cloth? If you don't have one, get one. I give my negs a wipe down with one before scanning and life is good!

Don't think my local brick & mortar has one. Internets to the rescue!

 

[newtorf]

pec pad is my recommendation.

So, what's everyone's preferred method for getting dust off *after* the fact? I have a few rolls that have some pretty bad dust. I got an air can, but it's not doing the greatest job.

 

[mwoenv]

Besides the precautions mentioned already, also make sure you're not introducing dust from your tanks and reels or anything else that goes into the tank during processing. After processing I do not wipe or dry the inside of tanks or reels with a cloth as this can leave lint behind. I let everything air dry. Also, I store them in a closed container so that dust can't settle on them. After air drying I use a Rocket-air blower to remove any dust that may have settled on them before storing them in a closed container. Sounds weird but it takes only a small amount of dust/lint in the tank or on the reels to get on the film during processing to cause a problem.

I also filter all chemicals between developing runs with coffee filters as residue from processing (e.g., silver) can attach to the film.

Taking these precautions, I don't find dust to be a problem.

 

[kbg32]

If you can find one, Kindermann film driers worked great.This one pictured is missing the filter over the fan.

 

[kiss-o-matic]

Can any old anti-static cloth work? Some jack hole selling the Ilford one locally once wants $58 (lol, wut?!). Other anti-static cloths are available for a price for those of us that don't smoke crack.

 

[2WK]

Can any old anti-static cloth work? Some jack hole selling the Ilford one locally once wants $58 (lol, wut?!). Other anti-static cloths are available for a price for those of us that don't smoke crack.

Hmm I dunno. I get mine from B&H for $12 I think. I keep it in the lactic bag when not using it because it has a coating on the cloth that eventually wears off and time to get another. It does last a long time and it definitely is worth it to me.

 

[kiss-o-matic]

B&H's minimum shipping cost kills the price. However, my bday is coming up soon and I'll have my mother put one in with my birthday booty.

 

[sanmich]

Ok, I have almost finished my preparation for the new "clean process".
I'll report as soon as I test it.
meanwhile, can someone please measure the temperature of the hot air in their dryer (no matter what model, closet or on-reels system).
I need to make sure I won't bake my rolls.

 

[2WK]

Sorry, it was Adorama. http://www.adorama.com/ILASC.html
With shipping it is $13.70

 

[Denverdad]

... can someone please measure the temperature of the hot air in their dryer (no matter what model, closet or on-reels system).
I need to make sure I won't bake my rolls.

I can't speak for any other models, but my Senrac has a cool/warm switch, and only on the warm setting does it actually heat the air. So no need to bake your film if you don't want to! 🙂 So far I haven't needed to use the heat even once, as the film has always been completely dry after one full cycle of the timer (~15 minutes) using the cool setting. This is with single rolls of 120 film on stainless steel reels; and I do live in a rather dry climate - so your mileage may vary.

But just for reference, here are my measurements. On the warm setting, the Senrac's air temperature rose by about 40F from a room temperature of 70F, settling in at about 110F. For good measure I also checked the cool setting and found that the temperature still increases, but only slighty - rising by about 3-4F (presumably just heating of the air from operation of the blower).

Hope that helps!

Jeff

 

[sanmich]

I can't speak for any other models, but my Senrac has a cool/warm switch, and only on the warm setting does it actually heat the air. So no need to bake your film if you don't want to! 🙂 So far I haven't needed to use the heat even once, as the film has always been completely dry after one full cycle of the timer (~15 minutes) using the cool setting. This is with single rolls of 120 film on stainless steel reels; and I do live in a rather dry climate - so your mileage may vary.

But just for reference, here are my measurements. On the warm setting, the Senrac's air temperature rose by about 40F from a room temperature of 70F, settling in at about 110F. For good measure I also checked the cool setting and found that the temperature still increases, but only slighty - rising by about 3-4F (presumably just heating of the air from operation of the blower).

Hope that helps!

Jeff

Thanks a lot for checking!
The hair drier I just bought for that purpose has a heat switch, and I just measured the air Temp. at the intermediate setting just above 40 degrees C at the exhaust, which means that it's safe (the air is in fact even further cooling down before reaching the film).
I think using moderate heat may have the advantage of "closing" the emulsion quicker, leaving less time for dust to stick there...

Next: try everything (next few days) 🙂