Expose reel to Photoflo (or similar), or not?

jnantz said:

I've never heard of problems like that with photoflo, jay. I think a lot of problems happen because people add more than a few drops to the tank or tray where their film has been processed. You only need a few drops. And then because they don't wash off their reels with super hot water. If you don't want to put your reels in the PF. you can always carefully remove the wet film from the reels, put out a tray of water with a few drops of PF ( or whatever wetting agent you are using ) and see saw your film through it from end to end, like people used to process those giant rolls of non panchro film.

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Very sensible. In the late 1980s the customer rep for Kodak Austalasia in Melbourne - a gentleman named Andrew Brown, who some here may remember for his excellent advice and PR services for that company until he left their employ in the '90s - told me the "problem" with PhotoFlo was that most users didn't follow Kodak's instructions properly.

As John writes, a few drops in water as a final rinse for films will do the trick. I've done this, and the bottle I bought from Vanbar Photographics here in Melbourne in 1998 or 1999 is not yet empty. It will last me for another long while. Maybe longer than I will...

Andrew also recommended a good option to periodically clean one's developing reels of any chemistry guck - a medium hard tooth brush in a sink partly full of warm to hot water and a little more dish detergent than one would ordinarily use for the household dishes.

I've been doing this since then, and have never had any problems with films sticking on reels.

Another good bit of advice from Andrew at the time was - always be sure your reels are bone-dry when you load them.

Common sense prevails.

Here's a fun fact that I was taught in 6th grade photo class....Patterson reels can be very easily loaded when both film and reels are completely submerged in water.

ozmoose said:

Another good bit of advice from Andrew at the time was - always be sure your reels are bone-dry when you load them.

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Long time ago Jobo explicitely stated that their reels can be loaded wet too.

I use stainless steel reels and tanks and have never had a problem. I am curious what this "gunk" is that people are scrubbing of with a toothbrush.

ozmoose said:

I've done this, and the bottle I bought from Vanbar Photographics here in Melbourne in 1998 or 1999 is not yet empty. It will last me for another long while. Maybe longer than I will...

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Hi ozmoose
I'm not sure of your age but I finished a bottle about a year or 2 ago that I originally bought in 1980! When I was a high school student the darkroom "proctor" used to dispense the Photoflo because too many people used too much of it, I still laugh when I think of this guy whose only job was to dribble 2-3 drops of this stuff in people's film tanks. Talk about a cushy job!

John

Never had any problems. Jobo, Paterson, stainless. Quick hot water dunk before drying. I'm afraid of dropping film, so I treat film on the reel. I use demineralized water for final rinse.
I processed some E6 this weekend, Fuji final rinse on Jobo reels no problem.