Printfile Sleeves are Scratching my Negatives

[Ljós]

I did not have the scratch problem, but came to a similar solution (good scissors that I use only for this purpose): at some point I realized that all my negatives had marks along where I cut the strips. It puzzled me at first, since it was not so that the cut itself was having ragged edges: it looked like tiny little pock marks a fraction of a millimeter to the side of the cut itself, where I thought the scissors would not even touch the negative.
Well, turns out it was the scissors anyway. Got some decent scissors, problem solved. Extrapolation from that I readily believe the OP's theory of what caused the marks.

Greetings, Ljós

 

[Ronald M]

I've never had that happen and I never use hardening fixer. You must be certain the film is spotlessly clean before inserting in the pages, however, because dust on the film will be pushed around by the sleeve as the film is pushed into or out of the sleeve and that will scratch film.

Absolutely. Something is on the film and it transfers to the plastic.

Hardener only works when film is wet and makes washing more difficult.

All modern films are prehardened. I have used no hardener for years.

Light Impressions used to sell mylar and polypropylene sleeves that you open from the long end and drop the film in. This is much safer.

I will also advise against any squeegee or wiping of wet film.

They also have a coating to facilitate faster & more even absorption of developer. Water soaking removes this chemical.

 

[VertovSvilova]

I have determined my solution!

Side lock film sleeves from Archival Methods for individual negatives which are then inserted into PrintFile Ultima sleeves so I can store them in a binder. I might keep using the regular PrintFile sleeves for black and white if I test them and find them to not destroy negatives. Unprotected color negs will, however, never come into direct contact with a PrintFile product again.

This is the way I've been doing it to for decades for all my film (including reversal film.) No scratches ever and on top of it all it's much, much easier to handle the film. The Ultima sleeves are slightly oversized to fit negatives already in the fold-lock sleeves.

If you get color film processed without cutting the roll, they should come back from the lab already in fold-lock sleeves. Then you can simply cut them in lengths and slide them into the Ultima sleeve pages.

Fold-locks are used in museums, etc., to keep scratching from happening. The negatives are never "slid" out this way... (I learned this method while working at the CCP in Tucson many years ago.)

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/442913-REG/Archival_Methods_31_102_Side_Lock_Film_Sleeves.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...FULT356HB25_Archival_Storage_Page_Ultima.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...ULT1203HB25_Archival_Storage_Page_Ultima.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...ULT356BXW25_Archival_Storage_Page_Ultima.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/442911-REG/Archival_Methods_31_101_Side_Lock_Film_Sleeves.html

p.s., I only included the above links because someone asked about where to get the products. The links show which products but in the end it's more economical to buy the fold-lock sleeving from a mini-lab supply house in a roll instead of individual sleeves. https://www.minilab.com/productDeta...A_Photography_Supplies_E_Photography_Supplies
(I get my roll from my local lab which adds one on for me with their supply orders...)