cheap, scratch resistant film

[WetMogwai]

I'm looking for the cheapest film that will be hard to scratch when dry. I'm thinking of making a series of bookmarks, so they have to be able to stand up to being between the pages of books and being pulled out and slid around. I plan on using 35mm B&W, but if that is popular, I may do some on 120 and maybe even get into E-6. What would you guys recommend? Also, since they are not being printed, I don't care much what chemicals I use. What would be a good option for cheap chemicals that are available in the US? So far, the cheapest I've used was the Arista B&W series.

 

[richard ide]

I made my business cards for 20 years on paper or film. I have some left and they seem to abuse well. I used engineering or graphic arts films which are pretty scratch resistant. A hardening fixer would help. You did not say what size or quantity.

 

[bob100684]

I'd recommend laminating.

 

[WetMogwai]

I plan on starting out with a few rolls of 35mm and maybe one or two of 120. If I can sell those, I'll probably do it in 4 roll batches of 35mm and two roll batches of 120. I thought of laminating, but that would make it just like any other bookmark. I may do that if I can't sell the film without laminating.

 

[John Shriver]

If a translucent white background is ok, instead of a clear background, consider Kodak Duraflex.

 

[WetMogwai]

It looks like Duraflex was discontinued in 2004. Most of the results I find on Google when I searched for it were sites where people misspelled Duaflex. I like the concept, though. It seems like that would make it easier to look at without backlighting it, especially if I do it as a reversal. Are there any similar films that are still available?

 

[Jedidiah Smith]

I don't think it gets better (cheaper) than Arista brand Premium from Freestyle, which is really Kodak Plus-X and Tri-X. Maybe you could send them to Dr5 for reversal processing if you want positives? Or if you just process as negs, that would be extremely low cost! I think there is also a way to do reversal processing yourself, but I don't know much about it, or if the chemicals are still around? Someone else can proba ly help on that score.
Best,
Jed