Dry air causing film curl - will film drier help?

[pbromaghin]

With the dry air here in Colorado, film curl is a menace. I know a guy with a Kindermann rapid film dryer for sale. Would this help with film curl or make it worse? Would I be better off just using a humidifier?

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

Are you drying with your film hanging with a weight in the end. That will help.

 

[pbromaghin]

Yes, I am. It curls along the length of the film like long trough and a weight won't stop that. I don't have an operational darkroom yet so I am still scanninng. Newton rings are a big problem. A guy who used to run a lab around here said he used to always have a humidifier going and when people would bring film in for enlarging, it would sometimes take a couple days to get the film to relax and flatten out.

 

[sly]

Also - what kind of film? Some curls more than others. HIE was dreadful. I always cut the curly stuff, put it in film sleeves, and flattened in my neg binder before using.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Dry the film in the bathroom after you have the bathroom steamed up from a shower. That will help reduce the curl.

 

[pbromaghin]

Sly - Usually TMax 100 or 400.
Sirius - This bathroom is rarely used for showering, but we do have an extra humidifier to simulate it.

 

[Bob-D659]

A film dryer will make it worse and faster too. As others said, you need humidity to lessen the curl. 40-50% is ideal for drying film. The dryer it is, the more the curl.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

FB paper too

A film dryer will make it worse and faster too. As others said, you need humidity to lessen the curl. 40-50% is ideal for drying film. The dryer it is, the more the curl.

In the summer time, I have super curly FB prints. Slow drying makes FB prints flatter.

 

[jimrohrer]

I have a copy of Eliott Erwitt's book, Personal Best. It must weigh about 20 pounds. After my negs are dry I sleeve them and press them under the book for a day or two. Works every time... but unfortunately, being under Eliott's book for a couple days hasn't improved my images!

 

[tkamiya]

I have the same issue. Nothing seems to help. For me, it takes months of storage for film to flatten out.... Tmax, Tri-X, Plus-X, everything curls. Strangely enough, Delta3200 does not curl....

 

[pbromaghin]

You have this problem in humid Florida? Weird.

 

[tkamiya]

Yes, but my house is always air conditioned. So it is actually 40% RH during summer and dryer in winter....

 

[Newt_on_Swings]

I just sleeve and weigh them down as well. Works well and is fine in my experience. With a more humid environment, like with a room humidifier or in the shower, the drying time increases, and if your area is even slightly dusty, you negs may dry with dust on them.