OT: cleaning of old negatives

[brambor]

My son needs to submit 2 pictures for his Middle School graduation.

One recent and one when he was 5 or under. He picked a shot that I

have framed on the wall. I digged out the negative and scanned it only

to find that it has a lot of dust on it.

<p>

What can I do to clean this negative besides using a brush?

<p>

Here is the 100% zoom of the scan:

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<img src="http://www.widereach.net/temp/dots.jpg">

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It comes from this picture that I scanned (too small) sometimes in the

past:

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<img

src="http://www.widereach.net/rodina/images/older/smtrevorroller2.jpg">

[jack_lo_..._t_o]

Gert the kid interested in the Senators or the Flames. Those specks are beads of sweat from worrying about the Leafs chances in the playoffs, if in fact they get in.[:-)>

[brambor]

The Leafs are tired:

<br>

<img src="http://www.widereach.net/rodina/images/older/smtrevorroller.jpg">

[al_kaplan1]

Did you try scanning off of the framed print? If the negative has had dust imbedded in it after years of storage you could try rewashing it. Some color processes ended with a stabilizer rinse, and you'd probably wash that out when you rewash the negative which would affect future storage. Just how big are these photos going to be reproduced? If they're in a typical yearbook or graduation program, not very big. Certainly smaller than the examples you posted, and the dust might not be all that noticeable.

[david_l3]

Rene,

 

I did a quick experiment and tried the dust and scratches filter in Photoshop. With the

setting at radius=2 and threshold=0, I got this result. I cropped it to 510 pixels wide to

show it here. It could be tried with a full size image to see how it looks.<div></div>

[ray .]

Are you submitting a print? If so, it's possible the dust won't

show anyway. I'm not sure about washing- I'd do some research

first and at least a test piece before washing anything of value.

[rjm photo]

Al is it safe to rewash a really old (30 yrs) black & white negative? I have got a couple that have something spilled on them while in storage or whatever and EDWAL film cleaner won't work.

[jtk]

What an ugly brat! Whew!

 

If the problem really is dust on the negative, any scanner with Ice will eliminate it easily. If the problem is dirt IN the film you've got a problem, but good solutions have been offered.

[working camera]

Rene,

 

The proper conservation technique is to moisten a cottonwool swab (100% Cotton) with pure alcohol. Pure ethanol is preferable but high grade isopropanol is also good. The latter is the ingredient in film clean solutions but it is somewhat toxic, pure ethanol is not, unless you ingest too much of it too quickly.

 

Gently move the dampened swab around in a circular motion. Wait a little for the alcohol to evaporate. Then repeat with a clean swab. Then repeat procedure until the swab no longer takes up dirt. If you need to get deeper into the emulsion layer dilute the ethanol with distilled water. No more than 50/50. But be carefull if the negs have significant mold infestation (and you can't always tell under visible light you need UV) the gelatine emulsion may have become water soluable.

 

Don't know how hard it is to obtain pure ethanol up your way. I have to have a licence from the Tax Department and log every drop used. If you know a good moon-shiner triple distilled will give you about 95% ethanol. It's hard to get commercially but it is the best. The stuff I use is Analar grade and contains a desiccant to get it up to 99.7% pure. Lab grade ethanol is safe to drink if you inject it into oranges. A trick I learned studding zoology at University. Don't try this at home folks.

 

Hope this helps C.

[brambor]

Thank you. I wasn't able to reply yesterday as I had fallen asleep and today I'm pulling my hair out at work... I will try the cotton swabs right after the digital suggestion.

<p>

... how time flies. Same kid yesterday:

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<img src="http://www.widereach.net/rodina/images/2006/trevnya01192006.jpg">

[tom_halfhill]

Robert, it MAY NOT be safe to rewash old b&w negatives. I tried it with an uncut roll of

developed b&w film from the 1950s, and the result was a disaster, which I have described

in detail in another thread on Photo.net. (Try searching the darkroom section.)

 

Briefly, the film curled lengthwise as it dried, even though it was hung with metal clips on

each end. The result looked like a three-foot-long cigar. When I resoaked the film to

uncurl it, the emulsion slid off the film base, and the entire roll was destroyed. I have been

processing film for more than 30 years and never saw anything like it.

 

A similar experiment with a b&w 4x5 negative from the 1950s resulted in severely buckled

film.

 

My advice: proceed with caution, and test any cleaning procedure first on some

expendable negatives or slides.