how to clean old slides?

<p>I'm in the process of scanning four suitcases full of old, dusty

slides. I'm also considering re-mounting them into plastic full-

frame mounts.</p>

<p>So, should I clean them or just try and blow the dust off with

C02?</p>

<p>The only cleaning methods I've come up with is PEC-12 from <a

href="http://www.photographicsolutions.com">Photographic

Solutions</a>, or just rinsing them in distilled water and Photo-

Flo.</p>

I think water destroys the image, the colour isn't waterproof.

 

I've had success with ethanol on E6 films, if you care to use it for such a purpose :-)

Edwal Antistatic Film cleaner. You can get a bottle of it at any camera store. I bought a 4oz bottle for about $9. It is made for cleaning film, especially slides. I use it to get rid of fingerprints and other oily garbage on slides.<p>Use compressed air first to get rid of obvious dust. Then, apply the film cleaner to a wad of lens cleaning paper. Use the moist lens cleaning paper to clean the slide. Once the greasy spots are gone, a final brushing with an antistatic brush leaves your slides spotless.

Edwal film cleaner is good stuff, but I was told it is very nasty to your body. I would suggest that you use it in a well ventilated area and wear neoprene gloves.

Most of the active ingredients seem to be isopropyl alcohol. It does dry your fingers if you use it with bare skin touching the wad. Be wary of using it as a camera cleaner - it can strip off lettering if you're not careful.