Is it feasible to soak the film in white vinegar to attempt to remove the deposit?
Vinegar is dirt cheap where I live, and I imagine it isn't expensive anywhere.
So a couple of bucks for a bottle of vinegar is you don't happen to have it already in the kitchen, and cut it to 1+3 is where I would start. Not sure what concentration would be recommended to clean calcium stains. But 1+3 should be about 1-2% acetic acid for most grocery store brands.
Michael, excellent! I guess I was just a bit concerned about soaking a negative in vinegar! I will certainly give it a try, the negative is worthless to me in its current state. And the thing is, it's such a great image!
Stop bath is dilute acetic acid. I would probably mix some fresh for this operation, as opposed to risking some contaminant from a used batch. (And I suspect distilled white vinegar these days is pretty pure -- more industrial than food stuff.)
Would the stop bath need to be diluted more than normal?
... if it were me I'd probably try half the normal strength and see what it does. ... I'd vote for a decent wash afterward.
Good advice, even on the emulsion side?
Photo-flo on the reels will become a catalyst and somewhere along the line will begin to cause the problems you are having.
Never put reels in Photo Flo.
The only thing to do now is scrub the reels in very hat water with a stiff brush.
Throw away the PF and get some LFN - the problem is solved.
When you have hundreds of students going through the darkroom ieach year for 20 years it doesn't take long to know what works and what doesn't.
Ian, Acetic acid can often remove quite bad calcium deposits on the emulsion side. The negative need to be soaked in water first to let the gelatin swell.
Ian
Photo-flo on the reels will become a catalyst and somewhere along the line will begin to cause the problems you are having.
Never put reels in Photo Flo.
The only thing to do now is scrub the reels in very hat water with a stiff brush.
Throw away the PF and get some LFN - the problem is solved.
When you have hundreds of students going through the darkroom ieach year for 20 years it doesn't take long to know what works and what doesn't.
I disagree completely with you and Bob about not putting reels in Phtoflo, not all products are the same though.
However I strongly advise good washing of reels with hot water, there's also a slow build up of gelatin, I soak my Paterson reels in biological washing powder once every 6 months or so.
The problem with long chain detergents is they don't wash off properly with cold water.
So either do as Bob advises or wash the reels well in warm/hot water after being in Photoflo, both ways prevents any detergent build up.
Ian
I have found problems with pf on the reels and stopped doing this very early in my career.
I have found a buildup and a the possibility of not being able to roll the film on the reels.
The solution is a major cleanup with hot water and therefore we hand scroll the film through the pf .
Ian , I rarely disagree with you but I am with Jim here. I have found problems with pf on the reels and stopped doing this very early in my career.
I have found a buildup and a the possibility of not being able to roll the film on the reels.
The solution is a major cleanup with hot water and therefore we hand scroll the film through the pf .
Bob, I agree with the build up particularly with Paterson & similar reels but my experience is that much of this is gelatin and that builds up regardless.
There's also big differences in wetting agents and water quality which may be a reason why we & others differ in practice. Even when I worked commercially we always kept films on the reels with no issues. I'd add I've never used Kodak Phot-Flo though.
There's no right or wrong it's what works for individuals ultimately.
Ian
.......I have found a buildup and a the possibility of not being able to roll the film on the reels.
The solution is a major cleanup with hot water and therefore we hand scroll the film through the pf .
Ok, so I'm planning on trying LFN. I've ordered some. Is the key to take the reel out of the tank when finished washing, fill the tank with distilled water, put two drops or so of LFN, mix, then dip the film? This is could have been my problem all along, as I would always empty the tank after the wash, pour distilled water in over the reel, then put photo-flo (too much apparently) in on top of that and lift the film in and out of the tank a few times. I always assumed doing so would mix the photo-flo into the water.
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