Speeding up the film drying process.

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wontonny

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Has anyone ever tried to do a final bath of some sort of solution to speed up the film drying process, such as some sort of volatile (quickly evaporating) alcohol? The way I dry my films are placing them still on their reels in a drawer that's cracked to let air flow in, but limit dust exposure. This process takes about 2 days for the film to fully dry. I was hoping to speed this process up by making a diluted solution of isopropyl alcohol so the water evaporates quicker. Would this harm the film in any way? I know some people clean smudges off of their negatives with rubbing alcohol.
 
Why not Photo-Flo? Photo-Flo + very gentle squeezy (hang in bathroom) will get me dried films in 30 min. No problem with scratch or dust.
 
I once tried a high concentration of alcohol as a final rinse to displace water. It clouded the film base. If you need to print your negs 15 mins after development (I was working for a newspaper at the time), maybe you can get away with it. But the negs suffer. You could try a space heater (no fan) in the same area as your drying cabinet, or a dehumidifier.

Ben Marks
 
Buy or make a drying cabinet would be the obvious speedy solution to the problem.

There did used to be (maybe it is still current) at least one alcohol based drying agent commercially available, from Tetenal, Drysonal. Rumour has it that it was an alcohol drying agent that caught fire when Capa's D-Day negatives were largely destroyed - use with care.....
 
We used photo-flo and a small pvc-pipe with a hair dryer set on warm in school. Dries a roll in 3-4 minutes. Make sure the pipe is about 6in to 12 in long to avoid melting the emulsion.
 
I use a hair dryer on cool but i don't really know if that's a good idea in a dusty house :/

edit: When i wash it, i put a bit of dishwashing liquid on my finger and stick it in the tank, so I don't get too much soap in there.
 
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I never heard of drying on the reel. 2 days?:eek: Don't they stick?

Photoflo and a small 2-sided squeegy thingy. Hang dry on the shower curtain rod with a heavy paper clip to keep them relatively straight - btw this becomes even more important when you're drying multiple rolls. Don't be tempted to turn the fan on. Close the door. 30 min - 1 hour and they should be plenty dry. I know, it's not lightning quick but infinitely better than 2 days.
 
Drysonal never worked for miniature films for me: I think it must have been designed for plates and sheet film. I strongly suspect that any other alcohol-based approach would be even worse.

Nor have I ever had any luck with hair dryers (dust). A drying cabinet with COLD forced air works best for me, followed by diagonal drying, as described near the bottom of this module: http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/ps how process 35-120.html

Cheers,

R.
 
FS Vontz said:
You could try acetone or something of that nature, but it's a bit extreme.
Click to expand...

Acetone is more than just drastic - it dissolves the acetate base. Alcohol with a touch of Photoflo once was a common speed drying agent for rapid processes.
 
Roger Hicks said:
Drysonal never worked for miniature films for me: I think it must have been designed for plates and sheet film. I strongly suspect that any other alcohol-based approach would be even worse.
Click to expand...

Drysonal and similar alcohol preparations were common in the printing industry. But in small formats the surface changes (somewhat similar to reticulation) are too visible in the final product to make it a reasonable choice.
 
sevo said:
Drysonal and similar alcohol preparations were common in the printing industry. But in small formats the surface changes (somewhat similar to reticulation) are too visible in the final product to make it a reasonable choice.
Click to expand...

That makes sense: I wondered how it had survived so long. Thanks.

Cheers,

R.
 
I have used a blow dryer in the past, I haven't done that in a long time...
Normally, I'll hang the rolls in the shower and they'll be dry in a few hours...no dust...
 
JSU said:
Decades ago (more than 33 years) there was a purple colored final soak which had to have been a high concentration of alcohol.
Click to expand...

That might be the already mentioned Drysonal (by Tetenal). At least Agfa had a similar preparation, but Tetenal may have been the only ones distributing something like it beyond x-ray and print industry applications after the press converted to CN shooting.

Drysonal still is being made - but direct-to-plate and dentists x-ray sensors are bound to put an end to the remaining black&white high speed labs sooner or later, and I doubt that the small number of photography users prepared to foul up their negatives for the sake of ten minutes gained time will keep it afloat...
 
What you want is a drying cabinet. The chemical solutions have too much potential risk of damage. See if you can find a Jobo Mistral II -- they can be expensive for what is basically a glorified fan/space heater combined with a laundry bag, but it is simple to use, well designed, and it works, so for me it was worth it. I am running a small lab now, and I needed a solution for getting films dried quickly and dust free. The Jobo worked perfectly for me, and though it is expensive, it is a heck of a lot cheaper than a permanent full sized film drying cabinet.
 
I use a plastic wardrobe bag meant to keep dust off of suits. The bag has a metal frame at it top which keeps the unit open in a roughly 20 inch by 20 inch square. It has a zipper to allow access and I've put strings across the metal frame at the top to hang film from. At the bottom I've installed a light fixture, with a 100 watt bulb, pointing upward. The only drawback is I have to cut 36 exposure roll film in two so they will hang without touching the bottom of the bag. It works well with 120 and 4x5 also. I have it hanging from the ceiling just outside my darkroom door. I got the whole setup from Wal-Mart for a fraction of what a film drying cabinet would cost and it'll have film dry in roughly 45 minutes with no dust problems. I use photo flow in the final rinse and just hang to dry.
 
Not too long ago there was a thread here (in the film forum, I believe), in which several users suspected short drying times as a possible reason for curbing or curling film.

Any comments on this?
 
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It is possible to over do it, there’s the infamous story of Robert Capa’s D-Day photos being ruined by over enthusiastic film drying.
 
I grab both ends of my film, spread my arms wide and flap it up and down for 7 minutes. Works like a charm. Bonus - no spots that way, or far fewer at least.
 
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