Very old 120 Negatives bent when stored

[howard_beller]

Can I straighten out some very old 120 negatives by soaking in luke warm water

and then air dry them weighted from a "line".? I tried unsuccessfully to

locate an answer from old postings.

 

My father was a photographer for over 65 years and I have boxes of negatives

in every format you can think of. The 120s were stored 'uncut' and slightly

folded within long glacines. Even though the negatives appear in good shape

the folds now have a memory and will not unfold. I thought he always cut

them, but obviously he didn't.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

[jtk]

You can try, I don't think you'd hurt anything, but you ought to select a sample first and see what happens. I've done this semi-successfully:

 

1) Use room temperature filtered water, not hot.

2) Add 6 drops (ie very little) Photoflo per liter.

3) Rock the film back and forth through the water (water perhaps in a plastic food container)

4) Hang to dry, as you suggest, in a room with no circulation, such as a bathroom with vents blocked.

5) Discard and replace the water and Photoflo after every couple of rolls in order to minimize dirt from one neg to the next.

 

The sharply curved parts of the film probably aren't a big problem for an enlarger or scanner with good conventional negative holder, and certainly wouldn't be a problem for a glass negative carrier.

[wickedmartini]

Sometimes just putting them in good archival negative sleeves might help. I would try that before any procedure that would involve water or washing.

[jtk]

ONE CAUTION ABOUT RE-WASHING OLD NEGS: If they're old portrait negs they MAY have been retouched (bright eyes, zits etc). Washing might remove or smear the retouching.

 

Yes the film ought to be sleeved. I like side-opening "FoldLock" polyester, eg http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.com

 

 

Side opening sleeves reduce risk of scratching, as does polyester. I'd entirely avoid any pages as they're usually soft polyethylene, which retain grit and are end loading.

 

I've done a lot of successful re-washing of film as old as the late 1800s and it's never hurt(cleaned the film at the very least). Some old film bases have been totally resistant to losing curved memory and washing hasn't helped that. You wouldn't want to use water warmer than room temp.

 

Some advocate putting curved film under stacks of books, but I've not yet found that to help...probably good with some film bases.

[greg_miller10]

Curled, folded, rolled and crumpled film will have a "memory". Soaking them for a few minutes will likely help to eliminate this but caution must be taken as some negatives will have developed some minor but not seen issues with mold and this will make the emulsion water soluble. You can also carefully and slowly bend them into a new position. Depending on the condition of the acetate this can be done more aggressively or with more care. If the negative is folded into a "V" shape, set it into an upright "A" and add a small amount of weight to the peak. It should, over days or hours begin to flatten. As it does so you can add a bit more weight.

 

If soaking does work do as the other suggested and use a wetting solution to prevent water spotting. I also highly recommend using distilled water in your wetting solution and then no wiping or squeegeeing will be necessary to completely eliminate water marks. Providing that the negatives are not so dirty that they quickly dirty your wetting solution.

 

Good luck with it

 

All the best

 

Greg Miller

 

Film Rescue International