Tacky film

[Yoricko]

All my films have this slight tacky sticky feeling no matter what. 6 hours drying, 12 hours drying. I can feel some rolls are more tacky than others though.

In my country, its very hot and humid.

Any ideas?

 

[MartinP]

Either too much wetting-agent in the final rinse, or maybe the wetting-agent mixture is being re-used and there is something yukky growing in it ?

More sensibly, are you talking of the emulsion side of the film, the base, or both ?

 

[Yoricko]

Either too much wetting-agent in the final rinse, or maybe the wetting-agent mixture is being re-used and there is something yukky growing in it ?

More sensibly, are you talking of the emulsion side of the film, the base, or both ?

I think I used a little more than I should, instead of the 200:1 ratio I was using like 70:1
I also re-use the mixture 😱....

Maybe that explains it, hahaha.

I think it's more on the less shiny side, but both sides are tacky.

Will tacky films cause any problems in the future?

 

[steverett]

If they stay tacky, you may want to re-rinse them. I get wetting agent in a dropper bottle, and just add a drop per roll to the tank before the final rinse. That way it won't be sitting around.

 

[MartinP]

Could well be a combination of the dilution and age then. Inevitably, I went away on for a few weeks one summer, came back after some warm weather and re-used some diluted wetting agent . . . that was slimey 🙁 Fortunately I was able to wash the film again easily, as the negs were not cut-up, so that could fix your problem too.

The stuff seems to survive at least a few days when it is warm, but is pretty cheap so . . .

 

[steverett]

Here is the wetting agent I got:

I got it at a local camera store, but it's also at BH, Calumet, and Amazon. The dropper bottle makes it easy to use, and there's no need to worry about a dilution going bad.

 

[Bob Michaels]

I see Photoflo in 2 oz. dropper bottles at my local pro camera shop, Colonial Photo and Hobby in Orlando. The bottles are actually made for priming model airplane engines (another department in the store) but they fill them from the big Kodak bottles.

I probably average developing 200-250 rolls of film a year. But given the Photoflo dilution I use, I may need to buy another bottle in my lifetime. Or, maybe not.

Sticky film probably means way way too much Photoflo. I find that 1, maybe 2 drops of Photoflo per 10 oz. works best for me.

Reusing Photoflo might save me 67 cents a year. Why bother?

 

[Yoricko]

Film still slightly tacky even after 6 hours of drying and putting only 1 drop of new photoflo at the final rinse...

Do you think it could be caused by the rinsing process? (30 minutes of running water)

I was told to to just leave the tap dropping droplets for about 30 minutes.

 

[Phantomas]

30 mins? I'm only rinsing my film for 10 mins max and even that makes me feel sorry for wasting water so I plan to switch to Ilford method (I'm new at this developing thing).
Oh-oh, I hope I didn't get my facts wrong and extremely "underrinse" my film by leaving it for 10 mins only...

 

[Bob Michaels]

I was told to to just leave the tap dropping droplets for about 30 minutes.

I would suggest just about any other washing technique than this. I suspect you may not even have one complete change of water in the lower part of the tank if you are just dribbling in the top and let it spill out. You need something that moves water through the tank and replaces it. The Ilford method is simple and seems to work.

Too much Photoflo is definitely not your problem is you are using one drop.

 

[manfromh]

You say you live in a very hot and humid country. Maybe the high humidity wont let the film dry completely. I assume that tacky is the same as sticky (on the emulsion side).

 

[Yoricko]

30 mins? I'm only rinsing my film for 10 mins max and even that makes me feel sorry for wasting water so I plan to switch to Ilford method (I'm new at this developing thing).
Oh-oh, I hope I didn't get my facts wrong and extremely "underrinse" my film by leaving it for 10 mins only...

Oh my, thats what the shopkeeper and instruction booklet says, except the instruction booklet didn't mention about the amount of running water. I also do keep a tray and a pail to save as much water as possible to use them for household chores!

I would suggest just about any other washing technique than this. I suspect you may not even have one complete change of water in the lower part of the tank if you are just dribbling in the top and let it spill out. You need something that moves water through the tank and replaces it. The Ilford method is simple and seems to work.

Too much Photoflo is definitely not your problem is you are using one drop.

Aite, will try on the next roll.

You say you live in a very hot and humid country. Maybe the high humidity wont let the film dry completely. I assume that tacky is the same as sticky (on the emulsion side).

The ones developed by the shop isn't that tacky. So it's something wrong with me.

 

[sevo]

Most film manufacturers recommend the use of a hardening bath (or hardening additive to the fixer) for storage in a hot and humid climate.

Sevo