First Time Developing, Mineral Deposits

[kevin_v]

Hello everyone. I've been lurking about the forums for a couple months, never really posting until now. I developed my first two rolls of film a couple days ago. It all went quite magically well with one caveat. After drying the first one, I found what looked like water spots when examining the film. However, they didn't appear when scanning. I live in Minnesota and we soften our water here, so I figured that they came from the salt from the water-softener. So the next time around, I did my final rinse with filtered water. This time, the film exhibited water spots in the scan as well. I'm a little confused. Does anyone know what might be the reason for this. I've included a few scans from the first roll and second (partially because this is my first post and I'm a little excited to share 😀 ).

Second roll Tmax 400 in Ilfosol 3 with water spots

And here are the unspotted ones that I'm just sharing for fun:
First roll HP5+ in Ilfosol 3

(I don't know why the images are being funny, but the links should work copied and pasted into the address bar.)
I just made a super simple page for the images here.

 

[Chuck Albertson]

Try doing your final rinse (just before you hang it up to dry) in distilled water, with a wetting agent like Kodak PhotoFlo added to it (follow directions on the bottle).

 

[johannielscom]

Try doing your final rinse (just before you hang it up to dry) in distilled water, with a wetting agent like Kodak PhotoFlo added to it (follow directions on the bottle).

And, do not wipe the water off, just hold the film by one end and gently flap it around to shake off excess water, then hang to dry. It will take longer to dry, but water will have the chance to run down all the way and drip of. Otherwise you may get drops of water hanging from the film and they will leave a residue once dried.

Always worked for me, my 2 cents!

 

[DNG]

Use Photo Flo as your last wet bath for 1 minute (1:200)

If you dry your film in a bathroom....
Run HOT shower water for about 10 min before you are done (With the door closed AND any Central Heat/AC OFF)..., and turn off the HOT water a few minutes before your ready to dry it.....and when you are done with the Photo Flo dip. just hang it up WITHOUT any squeegee or finger wipe...

This will help eliminate 2 things... Water Spots, and Dust Spots.. The Steam in the bathroom will catch any dust and bring it to the ground.

Dry time is about 2 hours, and ready for Scanning/Printing

 

[Bingley]

Try doing your final rinse (just before you hang it up to dry) in distilled water, with a wetting agent like Kodak PhotoFlo added to it (follow directions on the bottle).

I agree, and this is what I do, as well as turn on the hot shower while the reels are doing a final soak in distilled water w/ a wetting agent. Since adopting these steps, I've had no problems w/ water spots, and the dust has been significantly reduced.

 

[jordanstarr]

+1 on distilled water for the final rinse. I've done many tests with film and the hard/mineral rich water I have at home and have lots of problems with spots after drying. This works best for me -almost perfectly clear. I have a film drying cabinet, so I turn it on for 20 min and then everything wipes off easily right after, not a week after.

 

[Frontman]

Make sure your developer is properly mixed, and that there is no un-dissolved developer floating around. I usually use a filter when pouring my developer into the developing tank. Developer particles look like mineral deposits.

 

[kevin_v]

Thanks everyone! I'm really glad this first post has been a good experience. I'll make the suggested changes and check back if things go awry again nevertheless.

 

[charjohncarter]

Use Photo Flo as your last wet bath for 1 minute (1:200)

If you dry your film in a bathroom....
Run HOT shower water for about 10 min before you are done (With the door closed AND any Central Heat/AC OFF)..., and turn off the HOT water a few minutes before your ready to dry it.....and when you are done with the Photo Flo dip. just hang it up WITHOUT any squeegee or finger wipe...

This will help eliminate 2 things... Water Spots, and Dust Spots.. The Steam in the bathroom will catch any dust and bring it to the ground.

Dry time is about 2 hours, and ready for Scanning/Printing

Yes, Photo Flo.

 

[maddoc]

Remember to remove the negative from the reels in case of plastic reels (Patterson etc.) when using a wetting agent. That stuff slowly and with time builds up a film on plastic, making loading and loading more and more difficult.