Black and White Negatives - Brown / Yellow Stains

[James1]

Hi all,

I have tried Googling but have not come up with a definitive answer unfortunately.

I recently came across a 45-year old uncut roll of negatives in the family archives. Unfortunately, there are some prominent yellow/brown stains running through a good proportion of the strip.

Looking at the emulsion side, the appearance is shiny almost like something had been spilled on the film. Scanning showed what looks like crystals on those frames that have been damaged.

The damage didn't look like mildew or fungus so I decided to soak, refix and rewash; for the final wash I used 1% formaldehyde solution plus some PhotoFlo

The film has not fallen apart and the emulsion has not washed off, so it looks like it might not be any fugus/mildew, luckily. I'll swear that on those frames which haven't been stained, the base looks clearer...

...once the film had dried, I carefully cleaned some SDS film cleaner and some Koton wipes, and a good amount of dirt came off,. Once again the emulsion is perfectly intact.

My gut feel is that the damage is not fungal, otherwise the emulsion would have fallen apart. So if it isn't, what is it... could it be improper fixing which has now caused irreversible damage over the years?

I'd like to clean the negatives up as much as possible... and if it is possible to do so, what can I use or do? I have not yet tried isopropanol or PEC12. But if the stain is some kind of silver, these probably would not work.

Any ideas gratefully received!

 

[tedr1]

I had some 120 HP5+ rolls that came back from the processing lab, about ten rolls, they looked normal. However a long time later I found that two rolls had gone yellow, the stain varied gradually in intensity unevenly across the rolls. I tried rewashing with no effect. I asked Ilford's advice and they were stumped. I tried refixing and that cleared the stain, at least for a while, it eventually returned. So I repeated the refix and scanned them immediately. Haven't looked at them since. My hunch is that refixing is worth a try.

This is the old thread https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/120-b-w-neg-with-yellow-stain.135270/

 

[James1]

Thanks Tedr1. The old thread is useful.

It could well be deposited silver, it certainly looks like it. The Farmers Reducer trick from might be the only way forward in that case...

 

[R.Gould]

It is likely caused by using old exhausted fixer. which deposits silver back on the film, you can try re fixing in strong tixer, but the best thing is to try and print though the fog
Eichard

 

[James1]

Thanks Richard. It’s a bit more than for unfortunately, more like a silvery covering on parts of the negative. Likely the lab that developed the roll in the early 70s used exhausted fixer.

It looks like the only way to sort this might be to use the Farmers Reducer trick that Gerald refers to in the linked thread above.

How long would be appropriate? Sounds like only a few seconds - say 15 - might work...

 

[keithcraigs]

Dichroic fog? My fix for this is farmers reducer. Luckily you can watch it disappear. Before you try that, someone may chime in and prove me completely wrong.

 

[James1]

Thanks Keith. I’m going to give it a go at the weekend... the negatives are worth trying saving!