Cleaning Negatives for scanning

[grat]

It's a well accepted fact that scanners generate dust (ok-- they generate static, which attracts dust). I live in a house with two cats who have mastered the art of projectile shedding, and I live in Florida, where the average pollen count is several gazillion, not to mention the humidity (oh! The Humidity!!!).

Two hours after they've dried, my negatives look a bit like hedgehogs... well, that might be a slight exaggeration.

As part of my war on dust, I picked up some antistatic glass cleaner, which I'm going to try on my scanner to see if it helps. If I can reduce the static on the glass and the negative trays, that would be a good start.

Then I got to thinking-- what chemicals are safe for use on negatives? Specifically, the anti-static cleaner, but in more general terms, what's safe and what isn't?

 

[PhilBurton]

It's a well accepted fact that scanners generate dust (ok-- they generate static, which attracts dust). I live in a house with two cats who have mastered the art of projectile shedding, and I live in Florida, where the average pollen count is several gazillion, not to mention the humidity (oh! The Humidity!!!).

Two hours after they've dried, my negatives look a bit like hedgehogs... well, that might be a slight exaggeration.

As part of my war on dust, I picked up some antistatic glass cleaner, which I'm going to try on my scanner to see if it helps. If I can reduce the static on the glass and the negative trays, that would be a good start.

Then I got to thinking-- what chemicals are safe for use on negatives? Specifically, the anti-static cleaner, but in more general terms, what's safe and what isn't?

Flatbed scanner, I presume?

I hope it isn't thread hijacking to ask for comments from people who use film scanners, like a Plustek or Nikon.

 

[grat]

Yes, flatbed, but left it deliberately vague.

 

[wiltw]

There are several solutions and wipes available in the marketplace. The Edwal brand has been around for a very long time, back in the days of film PecPad is a more recent newcomer to the market (1983), know TODAY primarily for sensor cleaning stuff.

 

[Pieter12]

There is also the Ilford Antistaticum, an antistatic cloth that can be used to (carefully) wipe dust off negatives.

 

[runswithsizzers]

Correct me if I am wrong, but aren't most liquid film cleaners made specifically for oily fingerprints?

Can anyone say for sure if any kind of liquid film cleaner offers any advantage over using dry antistatic brushes + blower for simple DUST removal?

 

[Pieter12]

I sometimes find a stubborn bit of dust that won't come off with a brush or blower. That's when I use the Antistaticum cloth. I only use liquids when there is a fingerprint or other smear on the negative.

 

[mohmad khatab]

I live in the same tragedy daily, and in most cases the negatives are shattered by this old dust.

 

[Tim Gray]

Got two cats too, one of which is very curious as to why the bathroom door is closed and can't wait to get in. So far I've not had too many hair issues.

The single biggest thing for me in getting clean negatives for scanning has been a final rinse in Photoflo in distilled water (1 drop/oz of water works for me). My current camera scan setup has an antistatic brush that the film runs through, which is nice, but a few seconds of blowing on a strip with a rocket blower and, if needed, a fine tipped paintbrush to get stubborn dust off goes a long way. Sometimes if there is residue from improper washing, a quick buffing of the area with a microfiber cloth takes care of it. The same was true back when I used a Nikon Coolscan. I'm guessing the above won't solve your problem if they are collecting dust during drying/scanning.

I can't stress enough though how much impact the final rinse has had for me. Don't use distilled water, and I get deposits on my film. Too much Photoflo and I get residue.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Kinetronics makes all sorts of anti-static brushes, wipes, cleaners, etc. But the fact is more things grow on the top of my scanner than the top of my head.

 

[Alan9940]

Dust is always an issue with scanning; especially flatbed scanners. My 35mm film scanner holds the film upright which mitigates the dust issue...a little! I use an electric anti-static brush and a rocket blower. Hopefully, that does the job. But, if I have some tougher gremlins I use Pec12 and PecPads; never damaged a negative.

 

[MelBuckpitt]

John Finch in the Art of Black and White Developing suggests running a hot shower to create plenty of steam and hang the film in there to dry. The steam attaches to airborne dust and drags them to the ground. After the film is fully dry cut and store in the negative sleeves.

 

[George Collier]

In scanning old negs, stored in Printfile pages and flatbed scanner, I have evolved to cleaning every neg, e and b, with PEC-12, then drawing it through an anti static cloth (the orange one made by Ilford), slowly and carefully, then wiping the first surface to contact the film base, then rocket blasting all surfaces (including the glass above the scan) before scanning. I have very few dust pookies to spot out, and most of those are emulsion defects. It seems over worked, but doesn't take all that long and is really effective.