Absolutely clean film wash

[anthony_brookes5]

I've been doing my own developing for too many years to remember and

I still find it very difficult and time consuming to get an

absolutely clean final wash leaving no water marks whatever. If I

take a roll to the DP shop it is always spotless. What do you guys do

to get a faultless neg.?

[winfried_buechsenschuetz1]

Use a rinsing agent as last bath for 1 min approx such as Photoflu or Agfa Agepon (I think any brand will be suitable). I have always used it and NEVER had any problems with water marks, stains or stripes.

 

When using a rinsing agent the surface of the film will be dry in one or two hours (reducing the risk of collecting dust) but it takes much longer until it is completely dry. You can check this by watching the warping. If the film warps evenly over the full length it should be close to completely dry.

[al_kaplan1]

The best way I've found is either the Senrac film dryer or a home made copy. It dries the film on the stainless steel reels by blowing filtered and heated air down through the reels. It's a lot easier to blow water across the width of the film than the length of 5.5 ft. of film. I built mine years ago. You need a section of plastic pipe a bit larger in diameter than the reels, a hair dryer, air conditioner foam filter material, scraps of plywood, and an on-off switch. Mine is plugged into my Gra-Lab timer that I use for timing development, so it'll shut off by itself.

 

I still dip the reels in Photo-flo first, and you'll have to hang the dry film with a weighted clip for a few hours to get the curl out when the film comes off the reels.

[anthony_brookes5]

I use a wetting agent to dry them but still find it very hard to get a clean film. They are dried in still air but I suspect the water is insufficiently filtered. I use filtered drinking water but still get only reasonable results. How do you filter the washing water ?

[andy m.]

Do a final wash with distilled water.

[h._p.]

Andy's got a good point. I live in a 'hard water' area and it's a real pain getting clean negatives. Al's idea of drying on the reel is also very effective. I find that if I have the time, shaking the film on the reel vigorously, then popping the reel into the airing cupboard overnight with the tank upside down over it, gives the best results, albeit subject to the problems of straightening out the film later.

[Troll]

Right. Use distilled water and just the exactly recomended correct amount of Photoflo. To much photoflo leaves a residue.

[ronald_moravec1]

There is a thread in the black and white film processing 4/6/6 concerning this topic.

[ant_nio_ferreira]

After washing the film, rinse it in photo-flo or agepon solution and wipe the excess water between two fingers. Using rubber tongues may result in scratches. Let it dry in a dust-free quiet place. If the water is hard i.e. rich in calcium some light marks opposite the emulsion side may occur, but these are easily removed with a chamois. Biggest problem is when the water is dirty, a water filter is then a must. An alternative is to do the final rinse with mineral water or destiled water.

[michael_rutchik]

It's the water.

 

After spending 5 years in Los Angeles,where we had very hard water we recently moved back to the bay area. Not only did my problem with water spots go away, but my negatives actually look different.They are less gritty, which is mostly a good thing, but sometimes I actually miss the "look" of my LA negs. Even my overdeveloped-in-Rodinal rolls now look smooth and creamy.

 

When I took the trouble, using distilled water for the final rinse always worked to prevent spotting, but clearly the water quality affects the whole process. You might want to look into a water softener.

[terence_mahoney1]

<i>Use a rinsing agent as last bath for 1 min approx such as Photoflu</i></p>Nasty little bug. Believe there's a vaccine.

[christopher_a._junker1]

I also live in an area with hard water and the water softner really helped. If I had distilled water, I'd use it. However I still have to be careful with the drying process if I didn't have distilled water on hand as the water softner does not take out iron and if not drained and distilled wash, I would ocassionally get brown iron staining. There is now available a faucet iron filter that fits over the faucet spigot.

[saotome_genma]

No need for either distilled or filtered water. Just immerse the negatives in surgical spirit for

a minute or two.

[mark-j]

Anthony: I used to have the same problem. I switched to distilled water (not plain bottled water) for the final rinse and then distilled water with photo-flo and it solved my problem.

 

Mark J.

[bda]

- distilled water for the last rinse<br>

- carefully wipe excess water after hanging to dry<br>

but before that:<br>

- spray water with a brumisator to humidify the air in the room. It may slow down the drying a little bit, but it will precipitate the dust.<br>

[jim_a]

What Andy and Al said. I use distilled water for the PhotoFlo. I use *just a few drops* of

photoflo for about 10-12 ounces of water. While the film is still in the wash phase I re-roll

the film on the reel so the emulsion side is now facing out. Then it goes into the photoflo and

into my home made dryer. When the film comes off the reel is lays absolutely flat, which

helps in getting the negs into the film holder for scanning. I live in a pretty dust house since

we have three cats, hardwoods floors, etc. but my negs usually have very little to clone out

after scanning. My negs are much cleaner than any I've ever gotten from a lab.

[__jon__]

Distilled water, 1/2 strength Photo-Flo (or even less) and 100ml per Liter of Isopropyl

alcohol. Haven't had a spot in years...

[Jochen_S]

Saotome, I once ruined a important roll (either HP5 or TMY) by dunking it into alcohol. The emulsion soaked the stuff completely and cracked during drying.

[Jochen_S]

The IPA mix sounds great. That's what we dampen our offsetplates with. I'll try that.

[jon_noble]

"<em>Just immerse the negatives in surgical spirit for a minute or two</em>"<p>Im sure ive heard this before but it may have been methylated spirits.<br>Would this do the job as i have loads of the stuff?

[jtk]

Filtered water isn't clean enough for high resolution scanning...though it was fine for enlarging... grocery store distilled water solves that problem....I use distilled for a final dip/agitation and then for the final dip into 2-3 drops of Photoflo per 500cc...this means I waste 1000cc of distilled water per 2 rolls (Nikor/Kinderman tanks/reels).

 

Alcohol or Senrac driers etc probably make sense in humid climates, but in dry climates (like mine), evaporation's finished so quickly that techniques like that become sources of unnecessary additional risk. My film's naturally dry in under an hour...all I have to do is be careful about drops that accumulate in clips/weights.

[saotome_genma]

Jochen; all I can say is that, I've been doing this for the past ten years or so and never had

such problem. <br> Just to clarify things, the stuff I use is 100% ethyl alcohol at 96ﾺ,

apparently there are different mixtures for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Surgical_spirit">surgical spirit</a> (rubbing alcohol in the US).

[jonathan_reynolds]

Anthony,

 

In the last 22 years I have lived in two different 19th century cottages in a VERY hard water district. Heating has been/is exclusively by woodburners - no central heating, so dust and mould have been hazards for negative drying and storage. I discovered Tetenal Mirasol 2000 Antistatic drying agent about 3 years ago, and haven't looked back. My negs dry exceptionally quickly when hung on clips in the bathroom, faultless and without dust. They remain highly resistant to static and mould. I almost never have to dust them before enlarging or scanning. Highly recommended. Obtainable from www.silverprint.co.uk. Add to the final wash water, shake the tank reel hard before removing the film, and Robert is your father's brother.

 

Now what I don't have yet is water filter.... but I've yet to build the new darkroom. That's for this summer.