Cleaning old negatives

Hi everyone,

This is my first post here and I hope this is the correct place to post it.

I wonder about the proper method of cleaning old negatives. I have some 60+ year old negatives in my possession, some of which are smeared with fingerprints.
With the negatives being 60+ years old, some fingerprints have almost become almost fossilized, they are literally rock solid and I was wondering if there was any safe method of cleaning them.

I have made a forum search on the subject and saw there were several advices out there for using 99% pure isopropyl alcohol for cleaning the negatives. Is this applicable to old negatives?

Similarly I also have some old prints, which are contaminated as much as the negatives. Do prints that age need a different treatment than the negatives?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

If the prints are on the emulsion side, you're cactus. The shiny (base) side, can be cleaned by breath- fog and a microfibre cloth, while holding firmly flat on a neg- file (won't scratch), and polishing in gentle, small, circular motions, randomly, like you would clean a coated lens.
The fingerprints on the emulsion side, usually get eaten into by bacteria, creating a permanent pattern, though often careful re-washing in photoflo, and gentle cleaning with a fine sponge can improve things a bit.

You can also minimize the visibility of fingerprints and scratches by mounting it in oil between two glass plates. USP liquid paraffin works fine. It will not harm your film, but you need to clean if afterwards, of course...

Janos said:

If the prints are on the emulsion side, you're cactus. The shiny (base) side, can be cleaned by breath- fog and a microfibre cloth, while holding firmly flat on a neg- file (won't scratch), and polishing in gentle, small, circular motions, randomly, like you would clean a coated lens.
The fingerprints on the emulsion side, usually get eaten into by bacteria, creating a permanent pattern, though often careful re-washing in photoflo, and gentle cleaning with a fine sponge can improve things a bit.

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