Alternative to wiping film between fingers.

NB23 · Dec 17, 2022

Why do people even do this?

The real answer when you think about it, is to save about 4:23 minutes in drying time.
LOL.

And squeegeeing the film in hopes to anihilate drying marks is a totally unlogical and unsupported notion. The film is still wet after you’ve scratched it... so...

Please let’s stop it with nonsense squeegee, rodinal magic recipes, and stand devevelopment. It’s all nonsense.

logan2z · Dec 17, 2022

faberryman said:
You must be pretty tall or shoot 120.

Yeah, I'm 6'4" tall and I think I'd have to stand on a chair to make that work for 35mm

faberryman · Dec 17, 2022

logan2z said:
Yeah, I'm 6'4" tall and I think I'd have to stand on a chair to make that work for 35mm

Yeah, I am holding the wet film over my head trying not to let it drag on the floor when I go to hang it up. I guess if I were sitting on a horse I could crack it like a whip. It would give me a chance to wear my cowboy hat too. The only problem is I don't think I could fit a horse in my darkroom.

Sirius Glass · Dec 17, 2022

Don't!
Use PhotoFlo as directed, not peeing some into the water, hang the film, then take a paper towel and draw off the water from the bottom corners of the film. Keep fingers on your hands and off the film. Use squeegees on windows not film.

Sirius Glass · 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.

That is a great way to put crescent arcs on the film. That will provide more problems to post on Photrio.

MattKing · Dec 17, 2022

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

"A high quality, well maintained, properly used squeegee in the hand of an experienced operator is not the work of Satan".
How did I do?

Sirius Glass · Dec 17, 2022

MattKing said:
"A high quality, well maintained, properly used squeegee in the hand of an experienced operator is not the work of Satan".
How did I do?

John Wiegerink · Dec 17, 2022

I have used a squeegee before and never had a problem, but the trick to using one is to use just the right amount of pressure. Light pressure is the key, as well as a 100% flexible, clean squeegee. I don't use one anymore and just use distilled water and Ilford wetting agent for the last rinse. I let the film soak for four minutes or so and with 120 film I then hang the film horizontal to dry. Solve all my drying mark problems.

DREW WILEY · Dec 17, 2022

I would NEVER use any kind of tissue, cloth, chamois, or squeegee on wet film. Been there, tried all of that - too risky. It's always hung to drip-dry after a brief final dip in distilled water containing a tiny amount of PhotoFlo etc. At one time I did have a well-filtered forced air drying cabinet in which the film could be hung, but no longer need that since I no longer do any commercial photography on a tight schedule. I just hang the film over the sink from a monofilament clothesline, and leave that area until it's reasonably dry.

warden · Dec 17, 2022

I just use distilled in the final rinse with Ilfotol and that takes care of 99% of drying marks. If I had to do any kind of wiping of wet negatives I'd just use clean hands, which are made of chamois after all...

I used to tie my films to the back bumper of my jeep and go for a spirited drive, and that dried them right off.

;-)

NB23 · Dec 17, 2022

But why lol

John Wiegerink said:
I have used a squeegee before and never had a problem, but the trick to using one is to use just the right amount of pressure. Light pressure is the key, as well as a 100% flexible, clean squeegee. I don't use one anymore and just use distilled water and Ilford wetting agent for the last rinse. I let the film soak for four minutes or so and with 120 film I then hang the film horizontal to dry. Solve all my drying mark problems.

mwdake · Dec 17, 2022

I use a couple of drops of photoflo in distilled water to which I add about a capful of 90% isopropyl alcohol.
I dip the film in for about 10-20 seconds and agitate a little.
I then hang the film to dry but hang it on about 45 degree angle so that any water running off doesn’t run down the entire length of the film.

I’ve never used a squeegee but tried the 2 fingers method once but I didn’t feel comfortable with it.

cmacd123 · Dec 17, 2022

Photoflo, Ilfotol, Fuji Dri-wel, The edwal stuff. use distilled water to mix it if you have hard water, and try to NEVER actually touch the surface of wet film.

warden · Dec 17, 2022

NB23 said:
But why lol

Because it’s easier and quicker than using your thighs. Ask how I know.

JerseyDoug · Dec 17, 2022

I wash 35mm film with three changes of distilled water (Ilford method), no Photoflo or otherwise, snap the film straight a couple of times (I shoot 12-exposure bulk loaded rolls), and gently wipe down both sides with a Kimwipe. No water spots, no scratches, and it really speeds up the drying time which helps a lot with dust on the negatives.

Sirius Glass · Dec 17, 2022

JerseyDoug said:
I wash 35mm film with three changes of distilled water (Ilford method), no Photoflo or otherwise, snap the film straight a couple of times (I shoot 12-exposure bulk loaded rolls), and gently wipe down both sides with a Kimwipe. No water spots, no scratches, and it really speeds up the drying time which helps a lot with dust on the negatives.

Water spots are more a function of ones local water. It the water causes spots then one should consider PhotoFlo or other surfactant.

Todd Niccole · Dec 18, 2022

I'll never use a film squeegee again or my finger for that matter. I had scratched an entire sequence of images from some piece of grit caught in the squeegee once. Just let it dry. After photo flow and removed from the reel with a film clip attached, I pour the photoflow down both sides of the film to get rid of the suds that may end up drying and leaving water marks. I've never had them again.

drfoxmd · Dec 18, 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.

Don't touch it when the emulsion is wet and still soft. Let it drip dry.

Moose22 · Dec 18, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
Water spots are more a function of ones local water. It the water causes spots then one should consider PhotoFlo or other surfactant.

This. Very much.

I think the three washes with distilled water mitigates the local water thing, though buying a gallon or two of distilled (or making it -- I have a distilling machine but it eats electricity) is expensive enough I only use distilled for initial mixing of chemicals. Maybe if I had solar or lived where it was cheap I'd run the still, but not here.

Photoflo has worked for me, and we haven't got the best water in Southern California, what with most of it coming across the desert. Photoflo is super cheap, $8 worth will last me years at the rate I'm using it.

I've taken to having the mixed photoflo in a tank, hooking a clip to one end of the film and tossing the rest in the tank as I pull it off the reel, then hooking the clip to the wire I hang it on to dry. I lower the tank and the film comes out with the water just sheeting off perfectly. Someone here mentioned dipping in a tray of photoflo at some point, which gave me the idea.

Takes a heck of a lot less time to do than it took to type that. I have done about 12 or 13 rolls this way and not a single water spot. Not that I had too many issues before.

redbandit · Dec 18, 2022

ive caused more scratches on film adjsuting it in the carrier then from touching it when wet

eli griggs · Dec 18, 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.

If you want better finger/hand skin, use a good moisturizing cream a couple of times a day.

Callouses may no respond, they are natural 'armor' built by work, so be careful.

I have bad psoriasis, curtsey of Eniwetok radiation exposure and use such a product, but it does no remove the once dried, now moisturized skin, that takes time and the regular use of creams to "smooth out" and those that work hard with their hands may very well experience/ reexperince pain or a much too delicate skin, for their normal work loads.

It may be OK for you to use the area of the fingers closes to the web of the hand for gentil wiping but that may be too long a stretch for people without large hands and roughness from the sides of the lower knuckles is a deal killer.

Cheers and Season's Best to All!

otto.f · Dec 18, 2022

The funny thing is that I never squeegee my 4x5” sheet film and I never see chalk stains there (only Photoflo), whereas with 135mm I always do when I don’t.

tokam · Dec 18, 2022

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

The water that condenses out of your humidifier contains all sorts of particles from the atmosphere in your home including dust and fungal/mould spores. It is not as clean as distilled water. I wouldn't rinse film in it, let alone drink it.

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.

+1 to the whipping technique. I attach the film to the top clip tied to the shower rail and then walk back a step and give the film 2 to 3 moderate whips before letting it hang vertically with another clip at the bottom of the film. The only water left on the non-emulsion surface are a few pinhead sized drops which evaporate rapidly. Water is sheeted evenly on the emulsion side without any large drops. You are using proper film clips, I hope, not clothes pegs!

250swb · Dec 18, 2022

guangong said:
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.

That's it, Kodak! I couldn't remember where I used to get them from. They were very superior chamois's, not at all like the ones used for wiping your car down with after a wash.

koraks · Dec 18, 2022

tokam said:
The water that condenses out of your humidifier contains all sorts of particles from the atmosphere in your home including dust and fungal/mould spores.

There are of course always opportunities to conjure up arcane drawbacks to something that works both theoretically and practically, but what's the gain in doing so? I can recommend this source of distilled water to anyone who runs an aircon or a dehumidifier anyway. Why not use the water from it? It's clean, free from dust in my experience (heck, I would have known if there was an issue) and keeping film free of spores or microbial life is unrealistic in a regular household anyway. Do you autoclave your film before storing it in an antiseptic vault?

Alternative to wiping film between fingers.

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250swb

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Alternative to wiping film between fingers.

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