Is there a good way to, well, re-wash negs?

[philipus]

I developed a few rolls last night and for some reason there are lots of drying marks on them plus what looks like "calcification" marks - the water here is quite hard, but this is the first time I see marks to this extent, virtually along the entire length of the films.

I haven't cut the films yet so I am wondering if I could just make another mix of Ilfotol and water and run the films through that again?

Also, I don't use a squeegee but I've seen info online about people using everything from kitchen towel/paper to microfiber cloths to wipe off the excess water with. Is this a good or bad thing?

Many thanks in advance
Philip

 

[__jc]

I find I have had no problems since I started using Photo Flo after washing - just add a few drops to fresh water in the tank and agitate for 30 seconds, then hang the negatives with a weight attached at the bottom - no squeegee, fingers, paper towels (???) or anything else, and the negatives sparkle. This also works if I have to rewash an old dirty negative.

 

[Sparrow]

I'd let the emission harden for a few days before doing anything ... it will likely still be soft from the processing, can't help much with the rest as we have soft-water here but odd times I've squeegeed by pulling the film between my first and second fingers

 

[sahe69]

Sure you can re-wash it, no harm done. One thing you could do also is to do the final rinse in distilled water. That is, buy a bottle of battery water from the nearest gas station.

 

[Fotohuis]

Destilled water with a minimum dose of wetting agent will do it.

 

[Steve M.]

Hopefully a re wash in distilled water will help. That's all I use these days. Tap water is fine for stop and fix at my place. For consistency I use distilled for developer too. I had been having some issues w/ drying marks even w/ photo flo and distilled water, but now I whip the film strip like a whip a few times before hanging it (an old newspaper pro showed me this recently) and now the film dries in about 1/3 the usual time and nary a mark anywhere. I wouldn't use my fingers, a squeegee or any of those things because it might trap a tiny bit of grit between it and the emulsion and you would have big problems. Just try the whip it routine. It snaps most of the water off before you hang it.

 

[NY_Dan]

Destilled water with a minimum dose of wetting agent will do it.

+1

In your case I might soak for 5 minutes in room temp distilled water.

Maybe you can filter your water in the future -- that might help.

I do the two finger squeegee method too -- but I dip my fingers in the photo flo solution first. And I have a 3 film dryers that completely dry the film in 40 minutes -- I think this is important. And I periodically clean the driers and change their filters.

 

[rybolt]

Just to reiterate what's been said. Washing in filtered water is fine. ONLY use distilled water with any wetting agent. The active ingredient in the wetting agent can pick up any solids in the water and leave them on the film. I even strain the distilled water through a coffee filter before I use it.

 

[philipus]

Thank you very much everybody. I will rewash the films with wetting agent and distilled water.

Best
Philip