Any tips for drying 35mm negatives?

[Changeling1]

KIM WIPE AS SQUEEGEE!

The best way I have found to wash and dry 35 mm and 120 films is as follows-

1) Wash film as normal
2) run the roll through the photo-flo (made w/ distilled water) by holding the reel in one hand and pulling the film out of the reel and through the photo-flo. The free end of the film will have a metal film clip attached to you can gracefully hang the film on a line until the reel is empty. (DON'T DUNK PLASTIC REELS IN THE PHOTO FLO)
3)Attach a film clip to the bottom of the roll.
4) Fold a Kim-Wipe neatly so you have a long 1/4 wide strip. It will be highly absorbent now that so many layers have been created. Fold this strip in half
with one half on the film side and one half on the emulsion side and starting from the top- squeegee the film firmly down to the bottom. You will have a film strip that will air dry very quickly or you can help it along with a blow-dryer. Dust specks will be very minimal and the procedure will NOT scratch the film.

The longer film remains wet the more dust and gunk it will collect- even when hung in damp places like showers etc. This procedure will drastically reduce your film drying and print spotting time.

 

[ooze]

I don't like curly film; makes contact prints difficult. Therefore, after the film is dry, I loosely roll it up the anti-curl way, so that the emulsion faces outwards, secure it with a clothes pin, and leave it like that overnight. This gives me perfectly flat film.

Cheers,
omar

 

[Snapshot]

I use a the following formula to dry my film...

50ml PhotoFlo
450ml Isopropyl Alcohol

This makes 500ml of drying solution. For every litre of rinse water, I pour 20ml of this solution into the rinse water and agitate very lightly. I hang the film up without rinsing and use film clips to weigh down the film. Clothes pegs work virtually as well. Using the solution allows the film to dry about twice as fast than with plain PhotoFlo. The film clips force the film to dry straight as an arrow.

 

[TheTrailTog]

Most of my 35mm films curl across their width when drying, but it is only a temporary problem. After storing them for a few days squashed flat in a sleeve in a ring binder, they flatten down.
Alan Clark

I ended up resorting to trying this. Stuck a couple sleeves of negs under some heavy books Monday night and this morning they were a lot better. Not completely flat but, way better than they were.

I've been hanging mine in my bathroom with the window open. For a weight, I've been sticking an extra film hanger on the bottom. I forgot to try running the hot water last time like mhv suggested. I'll try closing the window next roll and running some water. Hopefully that will help with my humidity levels.

Thanks again everyone
Aaron

 

[TheTrailTog]

DING DING DING! Folks we have a winner! mhv, the water trick worked perfect. When I started the Photo Flo rinse I ran some hot water in the tub. Added a good bit of humidity to the bathroom and slowed the drying time down considerably. Left the roll hanging over night and awoke to perfectly flat negatives Thanks again everyone for your help!

Happy Shooting,
Aaron