Drying negatives

Richard1985 · Oct 10, 2021

Hi,

Can anyone recommend materials I can use to dry negatives on?

I currently use a hanging rack with pegs. I am not satisfied with this because every time I hang the film it curls, making it quite difficult to then scan the film once dry.

What about absorbent paper? If so, which side of the film should be left to face up, or should both sides be left to face up e.g. five minutes for each side?

Many thanks.

Richard

Pieter12 · Oct 10, 2021

Do you use weighted clips at the bottom end of the hanging roll? I would be hesitant to put anything into contact with wet film, either side, especially not the emulsion side.

@DrHSTGonzo · Oct 10, 2021

I second what Pieter said, attach any type of weighted clips to the bottom (I use 3 of the large binder style clips, 1 to the film and 2 attached to that one). It seems to help a lot. If it's still not completely flat after cut & put in the negative sleeve stack some books on top for a couple days to help finish the job.

Paul Howell · Oct 10, 2021

+1 with Pieter12, look on line for film clips to weight the bottom.

Nicholas Lindan · Oct 10, 2021

You don't mention what film you are using. Some films are notoriously curly, some dry quite flat with no problems.

MattKing · Oct 10, 2021

And do we assume correctly you are referring to colour negative films?
Curl is sometimes due to the film, and sometimes due to the humidity.

cmacd123 · Oct 10, 2021

Wooden laundry pins can be used in the margins if the film was cut before hanging.

Andrew O'Neill · Oct 10, 2021

Hang weighted clips from the bottom, then when dry, cut and sleeve. Some films stay flatter then others.

RalphLambrecht · Oct 11, 2021

Richard1985 said:
Hi,

Can anyone recommend materials I can use to dry negatives on?

I currently use a hanging rack with pegs. I am not satisfied with this because every time I hang the film it curls, making it quite difficult to then scan the film once dry.

What about absorbent paper? If so, which side of the film should be left to face up, or should both sides be left to face up e.g. five minutes for each side?

Many thanks.

Richard

your current method is still the best. as soon as you get the negs into sleeves and store them, they will flatten out by themselves.

Tom Kershaw · Oct 11, 2021

RalphLambrecht said:
your current method is still the best. as soon as you get the negs into sleeves and store them, they will flatten out by themselves.

If I'm experiencing difficulties with film curl, I'll often place the negative strip / film roll under a stack of heavy books or boxes of photographic paper etc. - this seems to work fairly quickly.

Richard1985 · Oct 11, 2021

Hi all,

When drying negatives, I am referring to single frame 35mm colour negatives.

When drying, I always attach a peg to the bottom of the negative but the negative still curls.

After immersing the negative in water it goes flat, it's only when I leave it to dry on pegs that it begins to curl.

I'll bear the books method in mind but I'm still intrigued with the absorbent paper.

Richard

koraks · Oct 11, 2021

Richard1985 said:
single frame 35mm colour negatives

As in, negatives of one single frame, so essentially squares of a little over 36mm?
Perhaps an odd question, but why would you cut them up like that? Isn't it much more convenient (also from a dry-flat perspective!) to cut the film into 4-6 negative strips? All scanners I have worked with so far can easily handle negative strips instead of single negatives. In fact, it nearly always works better that way. Same for enlarging.
So in short, I'm wondering about the benefit you see in cutting your film up into single negatives. For sure if this is what you do it contributes to your problem; it's way easier to handle film if it's longer!

Pieter12 · Oct 11, 2021

Richard1985 said:
ingle frame 35mm colour negatives.

If you insist on single frames, you might try leaving them in slide mounts for a while to flatten them.

gone · Oct 11, 2021

The slower the negs dry the less they'll curl, so absorbent paper may not work. I would be leery of letting anything touch the emulsion until it's completely dry anyway. Don't cut the film into individual frames, it will be a nightmare to store. Buy some print sleeves, sleeve them in sections of 5 frames, and the curl will be gone in a short while. Usually a few days.

Richard1985 · Oct 11, 2021

koraks said:
As in, negatives of one single frame, so essentially squares of a little over 36mm?
Perhaps an odd question, but why would you cut them up like that? Isn't it much more convenient (also from a dry-flat perspective!) to cut the film into 4-6 negative strips? All scanners I have worked with so far can easily handle negative strips instead of single negatives. In fact, it nearly always works better that way. Same for enlarging.
So in short, I'm wondering about the benefit you see in cutting your film up into single negatives. For sure if this is what you do it contributes to your problem; it's way easier to handle film if it's longer!

I do not cut up or modify my negatives in any way. Most of my negatives were acquired as singles. I always prefer to work with strips.

RalphLambrecht · Oct 12, 2021

Richard1985 said:
Hi all,

When drying negatives, I am referring to single frame 35mm colour negatives.

When drying, I always attach a peg to the bottom of the negative but the negative still curls.

After immersing the negative in water it goes flat, it's only when I leave it to dry on pegs that it begins to curl.

I'll bear the books method in mind but I'm still intrigued with the absorbent paper.

Richard

maybe but, I'd avoid to get the wet emulsion to get in touch with anything.

koraks · Oct 12, 2021

Richard1985 said:
I do not cut up or modify my negatives in any way. Most of my negatives were acquired as singles.

Ok, makes sense if you don't make them yourself but for instance buy them from estates etc.
The suggestion of @Pieter12 to use slide frames would be a good one. I also agree with @RalphLambrecht ; I think the absorbent paper route is very risky.

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