Restoring old negitives

I have resently recieved some old negitives( I am assuming they are from my Dad's old Brownie) they are in very poor shape, dirty, spotted and some even partually eaten by rats. The first thing I did to preserve the photos (no hard copies are known to be around) I scanned the negitives onto my computer. That worked real well by the way, got some great pictures out of it. I would like to see if I can get better pictures. What would be the best way to clean a negitive? These are very dusty and that doesn't just blow away. Also there are spots on the negitives, I think it was caused by water, anything that might help that? Thanks for all your help in advance. If nothing else, does anyone know of a good place to take these negitives to, to try to have them restored?

The final process in developing a negative in the first place is to give it a good wash then a rinse in slightly (couple of drops of detergent to the pint) soapy water, so in many/most circumstances this procedure will clean up a dirty negative ... BUT ... there are some funguses which attack the emulsion, leaving a tell-tale "spiders-web" effect, which also causes the emulsion to become water-soluble, for this scenario there are specialist solutions available commercially. Probably worth trying the soap & water method on a negative of no value (if you have one) else invest in an appropriate commercial product to be sure.

hey, big kev.

 

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water marks most often don't rewash well.

 

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did you use photoshop to retouch the shots?

 

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the idea of retouching is kinda antiquated and expensive if you already have photoshop. but i know it would be nice to have some analog prints.

 

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do you do your own printing?

 

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i recently made some brownie still lifes, and the dust fell onto my negs from the camera before they were even exposed, but it actually authenticated them.

 

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i think they tell a story..call me artsy, but i think they would be nice printed as they are (provided the subject is identifiable.)

 

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think about it.

bec.