PhotoFlo Alternative...

[George Bonanno]

Hi All,

My one roll wash of today's (yesterdays) shooting finished and I was out of PhotoFlo. Here in NNJ the water is hard so dried film without using a wetting agent results in white water spots on the film. So I looked around the house thinking what would be an alternative. Bingo, a bottle of Dr. Bronner's Hippie Magic Soap. Hey, why not give it a try. I put four drops of the stuff in 12 ounces of water and it seemed to disperse the water evenly on the film. It's unusually very dry here at the moment so the film is drying fast. So far it looks good on the surface, no spots. I can tell the emulsion is still swollen so I'll have to wait until the morning for the true results. The film images aren't really important so an experiment was in order.

Best,
George

 

[SolaresLarrave]

What about households without that particular miracle product of yours?

If that had happened to me, I would have resorted to soapy water.

Right? Wrong? Just barely OK? Please, advise.

BTW, thanks for the tip, George! 🙂

 

[George Bonanno]

Hi Francisco,

That's exactly what Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap diluted is... soapy water. So far it seems to work like a charm. However, agitate (excite) very gently.

It's definitely not my miracle product. It's liquid soap an Oregon hairy girl left under the first floor bathroom sink. Besides that... it's peppermint scented !

Ya gotta read the label on the bottle... it's hilarious !

Best,
George

 

[mike goldberg]

Hi all...
Glad to see this subject still full of life.
Remember, that we have a wide variety of users in different countries.

I'm doing the following:
EcoFriend biodegradble dish washing liquid, with all natural ingredients,
is made in Israel. I dilute this 1+2 in a spray bottle.
After washing out the fixer from films, 2 squirts of the dilute mix go into
the film tank, filtered water is poured in, then the films are agitated
up and down via a stainless steel rod [or thermometer] for 30 seconds.
Then, the light soapy stuff is squeegeed off the films, twice, with my
fingers.

Works like a charm ;-)
Cheers, mike

 

[George Bonanno]

Hi Mike,

First I gotta say your pic "Russian Immigrant Child" is outstanding !

Now, I have to wonder about your comment... "Remember, that we have a wide variety of users in different countries." I just don't get it. Would you please be kind enough to explain this to me ?

TIA & All The Best,
George

BTW: The developed film is now totally dry and absent from any water marks whatsoever.

 

[nikola]

Yea, few days ago I was looking through the shelfs of supermarket... and found two products for shiny dishes in dishwashing machines, both have some chemical (i think nitric something - about 5-15%)... but one had some percent of alcohol and citric acid... while the first one only contained that chemical...

does someone knows what photoflo contains?

 

[Rico]

I prefer the unglamorous route: distilled water. For cheapskates like me, it's reusable, too!

 

[ed1k]

Any modern shampoo will do the trick. Few drops of stuff (depends on type of shampoo and quality of water, usually 2-3 drops) per 400-500 ml tank. This is an old sovient recipe I used old days. But in USSR we had two types of shampoo, one that worked fine for film, and second one kinda like soap which left stains and strips on emulsion. First one which was good for film was usually cheaper, but I found some bolgarian shampoo and used it all the time. Those days we didn't have so many plastic bottles, so all my stuff was in plastic bottles from shampoo with my labels on it. I just grabbed a bottle of shampoo in bathroom, once tested it, and marked "rinser for film" so nobody else would use it as it was originally meant 🙂
I think searching for Hippie Magic Soap in some countries doesn't make much sense, faster and cheaper would be to buy photoflo. But almost every one has some kind of shampoo in a bathroom. If you have a few kinds of shampoo to choose from try cheapest one first, don't go with Pro-V or other zinc containing.

 

[nikola]

heh... ed1k... and if one can't find photoflo to buy! 😀

I did tried with just distilled water but with little success...

...and also I tried few different shampoos for hand dish washing... but they would leave little soapy rainbows... ;D

 

[NickTrop]

Clamato! It even boasts about this capability it on the back label. "A fine breakfast drink of tomato and clam juice and wonderful wetting agent for all film emulsions". (You have to read the very, very, very, very, fine print.)

 

[Pherdinand]

for europeans, the wetting agent made by amaloco might be the easiest and safest. And cheapest.
I tried dishwasher and also some special foamless filtered detergent. Both in distilled water. They did not work properly.

 

[ed1k]

...and also I tried few different shampoos for hand dish washing... but they would leave little soapy rainbows... ;D

try shampoos for hairs not dish washing. mustard powder was for dish washing in old good days 🙂

 

[FrankS]

There are soaps and there are detergents. I believe the detergents are best for photo-flo alternatives.

I'm going to buy some distilled water to use as the final wash step to get rid of mineral deposit stains.

BTW, I have a really old bottle of Kodak photo-flo. It smells of alcohol and the bottle has a flammable warning on it.

 

[nikola]

So Frank, what do you think, would it be ok to use that dish washing detergent containing alcohol (~30%) and citric acid???

What are the effects of alcohol on film??? ...or citric acid?

 

[FrankS]

If the Kodak photoflo contained alcohol, then it must be okay. I'm not so sure about the acidity though. I know with photo prints, they can be damaged by cheap non-acid free matt paper. But that's with photo prints, not film.