stabilizer for color film?

<p>Is it necessary to use stabilizer for color film? Can I use water to wash out the chemicals? If so, how long? If not, can I stabilize the film that is developed ten years ago?</p>

<p>you should use water to wash out the chemicals and THEN stabilize the film.</p>

<p >Hi Bill,</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Color film after processing consists of dye suspended in gelatin. The gelatin is a highly purified variety of table gelatin. You know it as Jello. Gelatin is the appropriate binder for film both before and after processing. It has many desirable qualities. It is transparent, flexible, has low solubility, permeable (fluids percolate within), and it’s durable. Previously egg whites were used and many substitutes have been tried. None bettered gelatin which by the way enters into and enhances the silver salts’ response to light. </p>

<p > </p>

<p >Gelatin is made from the hides and bones and connective tissue of animals. As such it is an organic substance and tasty to microorganisms. They will munch and munch some more unless the gelatin is made unpalatable.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Gelatin under the microscope looks like spaghetti except it’s transparent (long chain molecule). The fiber-like strands entrap the dye which is in the form of minuscule oily droplets. Thus the gelatin immobilizes the dye and prevents it from pooling.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Now the stabilizer is a wetting agent that promotes uniform drying (water sheets and drop formation is counteracted). Stabilizer acts as a preservative that renders the gelatin disgusting to bacteria. Stabilizer acts as a glue that tacks the strands of spaghetti together at each point they contact each other (peptide bond). This immobilizes the dye. The net result is the film is archival. </p>

<p >Hi William,</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Color film after processing consists of dye suspended in gelatin. The gelatin is a highly purified variety of table gelatin. You know it as Jello. Gelatin is the appropriate binder for film both before and after processing. It has many desirable qualities. It is transparent, flexible, has low solubility, permeable (fluids percolate within), and it’s durable. Previously egg whites were used and many substitutes have been tried. None bettered gelatin which by the way enters into and enhances the silver salts’ response to light. </p>

<p > </p>

<p >Gelatin is made from the hides and bones and connective tissue of animals. As such it is an organic substance and tasty to microorganisms. They will munch and munch some more unless the gelatin is made unpalatable.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Gelatin under the microscope looks like spaghetti except it’s transparent (long chain molecule). The fiber-like strands entrap the dye which is in the form of minuscule oily droplets. Thus the gelatin immobilizes the dye and prevents it from pooling.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Now the stabilizer is a wetting agent that promotes uniform drying (water sheets and drop formation is counteracted). Stabilizer acts as a preservative that renders the gelatin disgusting to bacteria. Stabilizer acts as a glue that tacks the strands of spaghetti together at each point they contact each other (peptide bond). This immobilizes the dye. The net result is the film is archival. </p>

<p>Great information, Alan. According to Kodak now all Kodak color films should use a different chemical called C-41 Final Rinse, instead of the C-41 Stabilizer. In fact Kodak C-41 Stabilizer is discontinued and is not available from most photo supply retailers any more. If you process expired old films that were sold before 2003 time frame the film should be still stabilized with C-41 Stabilizer. For films sold after 2003 you can use either Final Rinse or Stabilizer but Stabilizer contains Formalin and is hazardous so it is advised to use C-41 Final Rinse. I believe same thing applies to all Fuji films too. Can anyone confirm this? How about Konica Minolta films? I have a lot of them.</p>

<p >Thanks for keeping me straight seems I am out of date. My apologies, seems the current Kodak recommendations call for a final rinse that omits formalin. It was the formalin that fashioned the peptide bond. I knew that formalin had been omitted but it was my belief that formalin was being generated by the solution itself. Now is seems even that formulation has been discarded by both Kodak and Fuji. The final rinse is a surfactant like Fhoto-Flow plus Miconazole an antifungal agent with limited antibacterial properties.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >As to the peptide bond; maybe I am too out of date and the modern color films no longer need this action to prevent dye pooling. </p>

<p > </p>

<p >I will undergo self punishment and stand the corner with my dunce cap on. </p>

<p>Alan, your post is very informative. Before reading it I had no idea how Stabilizer works in stabilizing the dyes on film and had no knowledge whatsoever how it preserves the film from bugs. It is a very beneficial post to many people no doubt. You are a very humble person. Thank you.</p>

<p>But if the film is dried eventually, how will the bugs be able to sense the trace of treats lay a track to my negatives? </p>

Probably the same way they do to lenses and get fungus on the lens coatings.