Cleaning AN slide mounts before use

[kuparikettu]

I like shooting slides. Because of that I have been buying GEPE AN glass mounts here and there, trying to find good deals. And I have found --- most of the mounts I have bought have been factory sealed, "fresh" if some decades old.

Most of those mounts are thus somewhat hazy. According to GEPE that haziness is nothing dangerous, just something that'll happen to glass over time. Thus I haven't let it bother me and I have just mounted most of my slides in hazy mounts.

However, a while ago I bought some 300 used mounts. Fingerprints on them. Then I opened one box of new mounts. Reeeally hazy. I figured I better find a way to clean these. So I did try first just rocket blower and microfiber cloth: it looked bad, haze just was pushed around the glass. Lens cleaning fluid -- not much better results. Then I found some advice on the Internet that one could wash them in water with a little of detergent. That seemed to work just great, except the amount of tedious repeating and not being sure if I had rinsed all detergent bothered me. Not to mention that drying mounts and not getting any spots seemed a bit problematic.

However, now I think I have found the most efficient and thorough solution: dishwasher (not my idea originally though). I put the mounts (halves separated) in those slide trays and in the upper compartment of the dishwasher. Then I run the normal 65 degrees Celsius program with one of those detergent/rinse capsules. Shiny and clean! Drying: (this one is a bit tedious and physical) with the rocket blower, blow waters away from the mounts one by one (I'm testing at the moment with a smaller batch if just letting them dry on their own is going to leave any spots with the "rinse aid" in the dish washer, when using only detergent I got lots of drying marks -- but we'll see!). I also thought about drying with compressed air, but I wouldn't want to risk blowing any oil on them so I didn't pick up one.

As for chemical traces, I'm rather confident that one warm and one cold rinse in the dishwasher program are just enough. If they aren't, I myself will probably deteriorate alongside my slides!

 

[Brian Puccio]

I've been slowly acquiring those same mounts myself ... thank you for posting this. I'll add these to the list of non-dish things I can put in the dishwasher.

 

[MattKing]

You need to avoid using rinse aid in your dishwasher when you use it for cleaning anything photographic that might "gum up".

 

[AgX]

Why would any photographic gum up in the dishwasher?

 

[Trask]

I'd be careful, as I think many, many dishwashing soaps contain surficants and rinse agents that stick around. I've gotten into the habit of rinsing my breakfast cereal bowl in boiling water that I use to make my morning team -- before rinsing, the bowl feels slick; after rinsing, my finger "grabs" the surface of the bowl much, much better. There's something being left on the bowl by the wash agent. It might be insignificant to my digestive tract, but I don't think I'd want my slides being pressed against that remaining product for years on end.

 

[AgX]

Leaving a residue does not necesarily mean building something up over time.

 

[kuparikettu]

Whether or not there is residue that is harmful for the slide is certainly a question on which I have no answer. I hope I did but I suspect no one does.

On the other hand, there seem to be no good alternatives: either one doesn't get them really clean or the work involved doesn't meet the realities of life. Buying new ones probably isn't a solution either since I'd expect them to sell old ware rather than sell recently produced ones.

One could always use mounts without glass -- however, then those slides are suspect to damage from environment: dust, car exhaust, little children (and fumbling adults). It's a "choose your poison" kind of thing really and then it's a gamble.

If anyone does have further insight and knowledge on the residue an "All-In-One" (detergent+rinse aid+glass protection) capsule might leave and whether or not it is something that would break down over time to such elements that cause damage to film -- please speak now

 

[MattKing]

I expect that the dishwasher rinse aid is similar to Photo Flo, with some pretty scent added. I try to keep Photo Flo off my reels.

Our dishwasher has separate receptacles for the detergent and the rinse aid.

I wait until the rinse aid runs out before I run reels or tanks through a cycle.

If I clean something like slide mounts in it, I'll probably try a short cycle with no detergent first.

 

[kuparikettu]

I expect that the dishwasher rinse aid is similar to Photo Flo, with some pretty scent added. I try to keep Photo Flo off my reels.

In my case the rinse aid is in the same tablet as the detergent. It isn't scented.

I'd be wary of using such separate rinse aid as well.

 

[MattKing]

In my case the rinse aid is in the same tablet as the detergent. It isn't scented.

I'd be wary of using such separate rinse aid as well.

If your rinse aid is in the same tablet as the detergent, I wouldn't use the tablet at all. You don't want the rinse aid hanging around on your slide mounts or your film, unless you can be sure that it is compatible with film.