dust on my ALL my negs

pierods · May 28, 2008

I am quite frustrated...true, I don't take any particular precaution when drying my film, I just hang it in a quiet room, but I have at least one speck of dust on every frame...

How do you guys do? Any tricks?

Akki14 · May 28, 2008

can of air to dust. anti-static cloth. Don't bother scanning as I've never had a good clean scan - too many surfaces and can't clean the inside of the glass on a flatbed scanner. I prefer to print where possible, scanning maybe as a proofing tool.

Larry Bullis · May 28, 2008

Is the dust really stuck to the film or will it brush/blow off.

This may sound strange to most people, but if you clean your darkroom too much, you get more dust. You stir it up in the cleaning. Also, it is important to maintain a level of humidity in your work areas. If an area is too dry, the problem with static charges becomes unmanageable. For this reason, I never would empty the wash tank or tray.

Want more dust? Invite your cat to print with you. Occasionally, rub him with a glass rod! That'll keep those particles a-flyin!

Rich Ullsmith · May 29, 2008

I agree with Bowzart about the stirring up of the dust. Perhaps a trick would be to photo-flow your reel in the bathroom, get a little hot shower steam up before you hang the film, that would certainly help with airborne particles. Then just keep the cat/dog/wife/kids out for a while. Good luck!

pierods · May 29, 2008

Thanks!

Dennis S · May 30, 2008

dusty negs

I had that problem until I started using photo-flo. Now I just soak them in it for 2 minutes, hang by window NO DUST. The coating leaves a sheen on them that doesn't retain dust.

johnnywalker · May 30, 2008

I use a Paterson tank to develope and wash the film. I take the cannisters, shake the excess water out and put them in a slightly larger diameter tube mounted vertically on the wall (there's a piece of wooden rod on the bottom to keep the film cannisters from falling out). I stick a hair dryer into the top of the tube, and turn on the fan only (no heat, but it does warm the air anyway). The hair dryer has an air filter cut to fit the air intake. After about half an hour I take the film out, cut it to length (6 negs per section) and put the negative strips in plastic sleeves. I still get the occasional bit of dust, but it is not stuck to the negative and is easily brushed off.
I read about this system somewhere (probably here) and use it for all my 35mm now. I have way less dust than I used to when I hung the whole roll. So far I haven't had any curling problems with any of the films I've used (mostly all of the Ilford films).
Anybody else use this or something similar?

pierods · May 30, 2008

johnnywalker said:
I use a Paterson tank to develope and wash the film. I take the cannisters, shake the excess water out and put them in a slightly larger diameter tube mounted vertically on the wall (there's a piece of wooden rod on the bottom to keep the film cannisters from falling out). I stick a hair dryer into the top of the tube, and turn on the fan only (no heat, but it does warm the air anyway). The hair dryer has an air filter cut to fit the air intake. After about half an hour I take the film out, cut it to length (6 negs per section) and put the negative strips in plastic sleeves. I still get the occasional bit of dust, but it is not stuck to the negative and is easily brushed off.
I read about this system somewhere (probably here) and use it for all my 35mm now. I have way less dust than I used to when I hung the whole roll. So far I haven't had any curling problems with any of the films I've used (mostly all of the Ilford films).
Anybody else use this or something similar?

you mean, you leave the film on the reel and don't use wetting agent?

Steve Smith · May 30, 2008

Akki14 said:
I've never had a good clean scan - too many surfaces and can't clean the inside of the glass on a flatbed scanner.

I don't have a scanner so I use the one at work - but only for uploads to the gallery here.
If I ever got a flatbed scanner for film scanning I think I would replace the glass with a piece of Perspex (Plexiglass) with the film area cut out.

Steve.

MarcoGiardini · May 30, 2008

i find very important the way used to dry the film. I use a Durst dryer using filtered air so that while wet no dust goes on the film. Once dry dust is not a problem to remove with air!

marco

haris · May 30, 2008

Put film to dry into closet, and spray walls of closet with water. I made film drying closet for 20 USD and 1 hour of work, and when dry film I spray its (inside of course ) walls (including top and bottom) with bottle for spraying flowers filled with plain tap water.

George Collier · May 30, 2008

Many solutions here, my favorite until I had my darkroom was the bathroom - like mentioned above. Run the shower, create a little steam, then hang in the shower with the curtain closed (and keep people out if you can, like time it for overnight - at least to test the method). They might take longer to dry under more humid conditions, but it will help. The first time you get dust free negs, none of the other stuff will matter.

johnnywalker · May 30, 2008

pierods said:
you mean, you leave the film on the reel and don't use wetting agent?

Sorry, missed a step. Yes I do use a wetting agent and yes I do leave the film on the reel. The reels are stacked one on top of the other either 2 or 5 deep inside the tube (plastic pipe). I push them up from the bottom. I have two hole drilled at the bottom where I stick a piece of dowelling through to hold the film.

Adrian D · May 30, 2008

reduce drying marks too!

Recently I have been trying the following technique after reading about it somewhere and find that it works quite well:

after the final wash, hang the film vertically and spray it with distilled water (such as that used to top up car batteries) shaken up thoroughly with a tiny drop of household washing up liquid, using a plant spray, or other emptied mechanical spray bottle. Be generous with the spraying, and cover both sides of the film. This has reduced the occurrence of drying marks on my negs, and I'm now going to try hanging them to dry in a steamy bathroom, as recommended in the previous posts, its sounds like a sure fire winner for sparkly clean negs!!

Keep on trying, we'll get there.

Larry Bullis · May 30, 2008

Here's another trick I learned overhearing a conversation at ICP while using a payphone.

If you hang the film vertically (assuming roll film), the liquid flows down the film taking any dust particles with it. The film dries faster at the top. The top end may end up with less dust than toward the bottom, and may be more likely to be free of water spots, mineral deposits, etc.

If, instead, the film is clipped both at the top and at the bottom and stretched at a 45º angle (with its plane at the vertical, of course) the liquid will flow downward to the edge, then flow down the edge until either dripping off or drying. The film will dry at a more uniform rate, and quite a bit faster. Dust will tend to be carried to the edge and removed, not just carried to a lower location on the roll where it sticks in the gelatin when the film dries.

Of course, the downside of this is that it takes up a lot more room.

mps · May 30, 2008

I bought an inexpensive zippered plastic clothes bag that I hang in my laundry room and put an air filter in the bottom along with a safe bulb(cut a few small holes in botton and small one up top). I turn on the light as I am processing my film to get in warm and then hang my film in it. I usually turn the light off and let it hang overnight. It obviously dries faster with the light on. My negs are always dust free. I will have to try the trick of spraying with the distilled water mix as I occasionally have water marks athe the bottom of the negs.

I can post pics if you'd like but I bet you can find them if you do a search.

k8do · May 30, 2008

I rarely use photoflow... I leave the negs on the reel and dry in a heated blower (I have 2, one homemade, and both work fine).. In ten minutes the reel is pulled out of the heated drier... Now, I don't get water spots because the reel is on its side, and gravity and the airblast pull droplets down to the edge of the film before they can dry and leave a spot.... Works for me...

denny

dust on my ALL my negs

haris

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