Dust Mystery Please Help

[david_cuttler]

Recently I started scanning some B&W negatives I had been taking over

the last few years, including some I took within the last few months.

I just cannot get rid of the dust. I tried a wide anti-static brush

but it didn�t help much, the dust just moved around! I also would

like to state the films are from many different companies, so I don�t

think it is a brand issue. Here is the puzzler. I just pulled out

some negatives that were stored, moved, and handled for over forty

years. I wiped them off with the same brush, and scanned them. NO

DUST! The only difference I can detect, is they were stored in paper

glassine sleeves instead of the clear plastic sleeves the current

negatives were stored in.

 

This is the question. Do the old style paper sleeves kill the static

charge, or are the newer plastic sleeves inducing a charge on the

negatives causing dust to cling?

 

Please help clear up the mystery.

[al_kaplan1]

I too suspect that the new style plastic sleeves can induce a static charge. Savage still makes glassines, and negs I have stored in them for 40 years are just fine. Try drawing the negative srtips gently between your middle and index fingers to remove dust.

[david_cuttler]

Al.. it makes me feel better to have someone confirm these things. I just went to my local photo supply store, Looking Glass Arts, in Berkely CA, and purchased 100 of the paper sleeves. By the way it must be obvous to you that it was the Train Photos I posted on the Leica fourm that came out without the dust.

[gene crumpler]

Edwal Anti-Static Film Cleaner will take care of dust on scanned negatives, color or B&W.

[lex_jenkins]

It's the plastic sleeves. Pulling the film out induces a static charge. The glassine envelopes are the way to go. Or get a diffusion head.

[jerry_breault]

The charge is coming from the plastic sheets.

 

Jerry

[david_cuttler]

Thanks to all that replied.

 

I am in the process of removing everything from the plastic, wiping them with an anti-static cloth, and storing them in Glassine sleeves. The Glassine sleeves are nicer because I can stick easy to read paper labels on the sleeves making it easy to find negatives I am looking for.

[chris_waller]

For storing negatives I strongly recommend acid-free paper sleeves such as those made by Kenro. They do not cause static like the plastic sleeves. I have a Kinetronics anti-static brush which I find very effective at removing any odd specks of dust which find their way on to the neg.

[silverhalide1949]

I had the same problem with side loading plastic sleeves. In addition I was getting scratches on the negs (35mm) as a result of pulling them out of the sleeves, this could happen with glassine as well. My solution was to switch to top loading polypropolene sleeves from Franklin Industries. Dust problems are minimal and no scratching.

[david_cuttler]

First I want to thank everyone who contributed answers to my question.

 

Let share with you what I finally did. I purchased an anti-static cloth made by Ilford. It�s a big orange thing. I removed all the negatives from their plastic sleeves, wiped them with the Ilford cloth, and filed them in Glassine sleeves. This was a good time to edit, and get rid of the crap. I also wiped off the light box and loupe with the cloth too. The next day I removed a few negative strips, and scanned them, ZERO DUST!! The other nice thing about the Glassine sleeves is it is easy to write on them with black fine point rollerball pen prior to inserting the negatives. It is now very easy to find a particular negative strip when needed. It felt great to solve a problem that was driving me nuts.

[steve_sharf1]

There is a great device that I have used for many years that will neutralize static charge on your negatives. It is a device that looks sort of like a stapler and that emits a neutralizing static field when you squeeze the trigger and hold it above your negatives. These things were made for ridding lp records of static and they really do work great on negatives. Once you neutralize the static you can simply blow off the dust with an ear syringe or whatever you use. I have found that the plastic negative files do indeed cause static problems but with the static neutralizer mentioned above ,I have no problems. I like the plastic as it allows me to contact print through them. I believe that these anti-static devices may still be made however I am not near my darkroom and cannot recall the manufacturer.