Alternative to wiping film between fingers.

Radost · Dec 17, 2022

I did a lot of manual labor lately and just got a scratch through almost a whole roll of 135 TRIX.
It puzzled me in the beginning but then my hands started catching on micro fiber and apparently I have a lot of rough death skin on my hands.
Any alternatives and workflows?
I still have some Kim wipes.

M-88 · Dec 17, 2022

If we're talking about wiping the film when it's wet, after developing, I don't do that, I just let it dry the natural way and wipe it with fiber cloth afterwards. One similar to those supplied in lens cleaning kits have worked well for me.

If we're talking about wiping an already dry film prior to scanning/printing, again - fiber cloth.

Buzz-01 · Dec 17, 2022

I do a final wash with distilled water and photoflo, then I just hang them to drip and dry.
No streaks and no spots!

otto.f · Dec 17, 2022

There’s a whole thread about it on this forum. I fold 2 Kleenex tissues and wipe half the film with one side and the other with the dry other side. Many don’t agree, but I never have scratches and am rid of chalk stains. Last bath is Photoflo btw. and I never tried other brands than Kleenex, they are very soft.

Pieter12 · Dec 17, 2022

Don’t

Philippe-Georges · Dec 17, 2022

After the final wash, I soak the film in hand warm tab water with a few drops of (good old -) AGFA's Agepon (I still have 2 liter in stock).
Then I gently wipe off the eventual excess of foam by slowly sliding the 120 film between the index and ring finger while these are wetten in the Agepon bath.
If I feel something that is not 'right' I stop and inspect...

250swb · Dec 17, 2022

A very high quality chamois leather used to be the fashionable answer, and I've used them in the past and never had a problem. And I've tried the finger method but also get dry skin and stopped that, so now I just use some photoflo in the rinse and hang dry.

Anon Ymous · Dec 17, 2022

As others have already said, just don't do it. Let it drip and dry. Problem solved.

koraks · Dec 17, 2022

Buzz-01 said:
I do a final wash with distilled water and photoflo, then I just hang them to drip and dry.
No streaks and no spots!

This. Conveniently, our dehumidifier spits out copious quantities of distilled water.

RalphLambrecht · Dec 17, 2022

Radost said:
I did a lot of manual labor lately and just got a scratch through almost a whole roll of 135 TRIX.
It puzzled me in the beginning but then my hands started catching on micro fiber and apparently I have a lot of rough death skin on my hands.
Any alternatives and workflows?
I still have some Kim wipes.

It's still the best method. Try to clean your hands with a rough brush or some scrubbing cloth.

guangong · Dec 17, 2022

250swb said:
A very high quality chamois leather used to be the fashionable answer, and I've used them in the past and never had a problem. And I've tried the finger method but also get dry skin and stopped that, so now I just use some photoflo in the rinse and hang dry.

Very high quality chamois used to be marketed by Kodak. I still have several on hand. Usually just trust to Fotoflow, but occasionally, when in a hurry, use a clean folded half sheet of paper towel. In my youth hands were too oily to use as squeegee, now too dry.

foc · Dec 17, 2022

I have used a squeegee with B&W film, professionally developed, for over 35 years and NEVER, EVER got a scratch or drying marks.

There is a little skill in doing it correctly but it is easily learned. (if interested just let me know)

The reason the squeegee gets such a bad reputation is that people use it incorrectly, they try to gouge the film with a cheap one.

Now, repeat after me: A squeegee is not the work of satan........a squeegee is not.......................

Rick A · Dec 17, 2022

I stopped wiping wet film half a century ago, no need if you use a final rinse of Edwal LFN or Photoflo and let the film drip dry. I prefer LFN, one drop to 16 fl oz distilled water plus one capful of isopropyl alcohol (alcohol helps speed up drying), soak for 30 - 60 seconds, shake off excess liquid and hang. No spots, streaks, or scratches. LFN doesn't leave sticky residue in plastic reels, unlike Photoflo which does.

Steve@f8 · Dec 17, 2022

On the last occasion I developed film I wiped it with a lightly damped PecPad using photo flo. Best ever result, no scratches.

GregY · Dec 17, 2022

"Alternative to wiping film between fingers."

photo flo....not wiping

ic-racer · Dec 17, 2022

I only touch the film by the edges. There used to be good books out there that showed the technique.

Daniela · Dec 17, 2022

foc said:
I have used a squeegee with B&W film, professionally developed, for over 35 years and NEVER, EVER got a scratch or drying marks.

There is a little skill in doing it correctly but it is easily learned. (if interested just let me know)

The reason the squeegee gets such a bad reputation is that people use it incorrectly, they try to gouge the film with a cheap one.

Now, repeat after me: A squeegee is not the work of satan........a squeegee is not.......................

I do a final rinse with distilled water and then use a squeegee too. Never knew it was such a controversial tool until I joined this site!

cramej · Dec 17, 2022

After a quick bath in photo flo, I use a pec pad on either side of the film when it's hanging to wipe it down a couple of times has worked well for me.

faberryman · Dec 17, 2022

Have you considered using hand lotion (on your hands)?

Philippe-Georges · Dec 17, 2022

I am somewhat reluctant to touch the wet film with any kind of medium, wether it is a (Kodak-) chamois, pec-pad or Kleenex, one can't feel if something goes wrong...

rcphoto · Dec 17, 2022

I have callouses from my work. I usually dip my fingers in photoflo dilution before wiping my film. The best advice I was given when doing this and it has shown to be true for me, wipe your film only once. Any additional wipes WILL scratch.

gone · Dec 17, 2022

Why would you wipe the film between your fingers? There are a lot better ways to get excess water off. I take the end of the film when it comes out of the developing tank (after a short stay in a wetting agent) and snap it a couple of times like a whip to fling the water off. There's more that I do afterward concerning avoiding drying marks while it hangs to dry, but the post is about running it through your fingers. That's as bad as a squeegee.

rcphoto · Dec 17, 2022

momus said:
Why would you wipe the film between your fingers? There are a lot better ways to get excess water off. I take the end of the film when it comes out of the developing tank (after a short stay in a wetting agent) and snap it a couple of times like a whip to fling the water off. There's more that I do afterward concerning avoiding drying marks while it hangs to dry, but the post is about running it through your fingers. That's as bad as a squeegee.

You recommend drying films outside on windy days for faster drying too?

faberryman · Dec 17, 2022

momus said:
I take the end of the film when it comes out of the developing tank (after a short stay in a wetting agent) and snap it a couple of times like a whip to fling the water off.

You must be pretty tall or shoot 120.

logan2z · Dec 17, 2022

For the last few months I've been struggling with odd streaks on my film. I slowly narrowed it down to something occurring during the final rinse with Photoflo/distilled water, despite the fact that I used Kodak's recommended 1:200 dilution.

In an effort to eliminate the streaks, I decided to try gently squeegeeing the wet film with my fingers in a nitrile glove and dipped in the final rinse solution to avoid scratches. It worked well for a couple of rolls but then similar streaks reappeared on later rolls. It looked to me like I was actually introducing streaks by not uniformly squeegeeing the film and possibly leaving some Photoflo in areas of the film that did not run off or dry uniformly. I also noticed some faint, streaky residue visible in the spaces between the frames and in the clear area at the bottom of the film strip when hung vertically to dry.

I decided to ditch the Photoflo and use LFN instead (and no squeegeeing) and now I have no residue on the film and no streaks. It's very simple to use, just a drop per 16 oz of water.

I have pretty hard water and so I also took a recommendation posted by @Doremus Scudder to introduce a 5 minute soak in distilled water before the final rinse. With the extra soak and the use of LFN my negatives have been coming out squeaky clean and with no spots or streaks. Hoping it continues.

I suppose I could have experimented with weaker solutions of Photoflo to see if they helped, but switching to LFN seemed to resolve the issue so I didn't bother.

To the OP, I'd give LFN and no squeegeeing a try and see how that goes.

Alternative to wiping film between fingers.

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