Cleaning / repairing neglected negatives

[bob_biggs]

I have a 3000+ 35mm b & w negs dating from the 1970s, all Ilford FP4 &

HP5 home processed with Ilford chemistry. The neg holders I have used

(6 exposures x 7 strips) are not archival quality. The negs now have

marks from condensation and possibly from the plastic holders (which

are 'greasy' to touch). I have tried loading six strips into my

processing reels / tank and washing with running water for 5 minutes,

wiping with a squeegee and hanging to dry. The results are

inconsistent. We have water restrictions so this is not a wise method

for all the negs ( 8 - 10 hrs running water-not good ). Can anybody

help me with a better process that would also help protect the negs ?

[ronald_moravec1]

I would start by trying all the common solvents on the envelopes to see what clears the greasy stuff. Then start testing on the least important films.

 

Mild soap and water a good place to start. Work up to more agressive solvents like alcohol. TSP cleans lots of things. Tri Sodium Phosphate.

 

Wash the films well when done and store properly.

[michael_briggs2]

I don't think water is the easiest solvent to remove plasticizer. As Ronald says, you may have to experiment. Kodak is recommending isopropyl alcohol of 98% purity or higher. The idea of the high purity is to avoid water content, so that you are not rewetting your negatives.

See http://www.kodak.com/global/en/consumer/products/techInfo/cis145/cis145.shtml

 

A commerical product that works well is PEC-12 Photographic Emulsion Cleaner, http://www.photosol.com/pec-12product.htm . With the number of negatives that you have to do, the isopropyl alcohol will probably be cheaper -- probably you can buy it by the quart or gallon from a chemical supplier.

[chris_waller]

Iso-propyl alcohol (98 %) since this doesn't soften the emulsion. Don't use such as acetone or other ketones - these will dissolve the plastic base. If you want to try washing in water then use the Ilford method, i.e. fill the tank with water and agitate by hand. This uses very little water and is more thorough.

[colin jackson]

FWIW... In the 60's - early 70's I stored negs in Pixur protectors made in UK that left cross

hatched marks on the negs. These printed out on a condenser B22 and I could not scrub

them off trying several ideas. I gave up on them til recently when I tried printing them on

my diffuser LPL - no more marks! The diffuser just ignored that stuff like it does fine

dust. I don't miss that condenser!

[bob_biggs]

Thank you for your replies. Your help is much appreciated.

I am getting some Isopropanol today and will try cleaning some negs tonight. I am not sure what purity the alcohol is-in Australia you can't buy 98% isopropyl alcohol over the counter.

I will let you know how I get on.

Thanks again.

[al_kaplan1]

Omega used to offer a round opal glass diffuser to use with the B-22 which fit over the condensers. You could probably make one out of opal plastic cut in a circle the right size.

[bob_biggs]

Hi everybody,

I have cleaned one set of negs with the isopropanol (80%)-the purest you can buy over the counter in Australia. Apart from a few streaks they cleaned OK. I suspect my technique is partly responsible for the streaks. This will improve over the next 2964 negs.

Many thanks to all who responded so promptly. I hope I can return the favour some day.

[j_m28]

Secondary cleaning question: Does the alchohol method work with finger prints on negs? or lint that dried on the neg when it was drying? (the hazards of a laundry room / darkroom)

 

Thanks

J

[mattalofs]

"Does the alchohol method work with finger prints on negs? or lint that dried on the neg when it was drying?"

 

Yes, or at least it does for me. I've started using a mixture of 400ml of water, 200 ml of rubbing alcohol and 2 ml of photoflo as my final wash. This also works well for cleaning dirty negs and it doesn't seem to streak as bad as straight alcohol.