Dust and marks embedded in negs

waileong · Oct 20, 2009

Anybody got this problem? I seem to get dust embedded in the film which I can't clean off even with pec-12 and rubbing.

Seems to happen to me only on certain film bases, eg tmax100, fp4+. Other films like tri-x and rollei r3 seem very dust resistant. They also appear harder.

Any ideas how to prevent this? I dry negs in a closed bathroom already. What else can I do?

ic-racer · Oct 20, 2009

Make a separate drying cabinet. Use distilled H20 to mix the photoflo.

keithwms · Oct 20, 2009

Where is the dust coming from? Do you humidify?

Generally the tmax and fp4+ aren't especially prone to static/dust, in my experience, but perhaps it's a humidity issue. Just steam up your bathroom very well and let the steam settle out before loading/unloading your film. This is especially useful during the (dry) winter months.

Do you use any wetting agent?

clayne · Oct 20, 2009

This is dust that has settled on the film while it's drying. There is no effective way to remove it aside from rewashing - and even then this is not always effective.

A drying cabinet is probably one of the best purchases I made for my darkroom - next to my RH Designs f-stop timer.

waileong · Oct 20, 2009

scratches and dust embedded in film

Anybody got this problem? I seem to get dust embedded in the film which I can't clean off even with pec-12 and rubbing.

Seems to happen to me only on certain film bases, eg tmax100, fp4+. Other films like tri-x and rollei r3 seem very dust resistant. They also appear harder.

Any ideas how to prevent this? I dry negs in a closed bathroom already. Any other ideas? I don't want to give up fp4+ or tmax.

Jimi and Jim and Janis · Oct 20, 2009

A quick steamy shower right before you hang up your negative will remove a lot of the dust in the air. I leave my negatives to dry overnight in a steamy bathroom, then in the morning I put the negative in a ziplock bag. You can never be too safe.

David A. Goldfarb · Oct 20, 2009

Threads merged.

waileong · Oct 20, 2009

Thanks guys. I already do the bathroom bit, still happens only to the negs with softer film bases, while the tougher negs like R3 and Tri-X don't get it.

Will using filtered water help?

clayne · Oct 20, 2009

In general it will help, but the real issue is airborne dust - not surface water.

Dust and marks embedded in negs

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