Fixing Scratch in Base of Film

waffles · May 14, 2022

I developed a 120 roll of Ilford Delta 100 Professional last week, and I don’t know how but I got two scratches right in the base of the film. Not the emulsion side, but the base side.

I seem to remember reading once that it is possible to repair a scratch on the base side of acetate film. I think it involved nail polish or super glue or something. Does anyone know how to do this?

reddesert · May 14, 2022

The old recommendation for this was "nose grease" (honest) - oil that you get by wiping the outside of your face. Not snot! The idea is that oil roughly matches the index of refraction of the base and makes scratches less obvious. Edwal made a product "No-Scratch" which somewhat remarkably still exists - Freestyle has it. I've never used that.

I would not use anything permanent like nail polish or super glue. It seems like it would be hard to get even, and then it would be on there forever. At least with nose grease, Vaseline, or similar, you can always wipe it off and start over.

Nitroplait · May 14, 2022

If you don't already know how to spot/retouch a print, then this may a good opportunity to dive into that subject.

Don_ih · May 14, 2022

Nail polish would be bad enough, but super glue would probably destroy a large patch of the film.

I only ever heard of nose grease - but only as a fix for light scratches. I find scratches show up much worse in scans than in enlargements.

If the scratch is bad, you can rub graphite powder (scraped off a pencil) into it to diminish its appearance in the print and retouch that. On an enlargement, it's much better to shade a white line than scrape off a dark line.

AgX · May 14, 2022

Tetenal once offered a varnish dedicated for this purpose. The idea was to dip the snippet into it. You even could remove it again with a dedicated solvent.

Today you would have to chose from the offer of varnishes that are dedicated for extra thin coatings and with a fast evaporating solvent. You may might even find a solvent that lets you take off the varnish again without harming the film. You need to experiment.

BAC1967 · May 14, 2022

look at Filmguard, it’s used in wet gate movie film projection and film cleaning. It helps hide scratches.

Filmguard

AgX · May 14, 2022

Not exactly wet gate. As this necessitates an actual liquid that fully wets all components within the gate optical path.

Bill Burk · May 14, 2022

A diffusion enlarger will hide most scratches.

There was a fluid you could get at photo stores. Edwal NO Scratch.

waffles · May 15, 2022

reddesert said:
The old recommendation for this was "nose grease" (honest) - oil that you get by wiping the outside of your face. Not snot! The idea is that oil roughly matches the index of refraction of the base and makes scratches less obvious. Edwal made a product "No-Scratch" which somewhat remarkably still exists - Freestyle has it. I've never used that.

I would not use anything permanent like nail polish or super glue. It seems like it would be hard to get even, and then it would be on there forever. At least with nose grease, Vaseline, or similar, you can always wipe it off and start over.

I am looking for something permanent. Does the Edwal product fill in the scratch and dry? Or is it temporary?

waffles · May 15, 2022

AgX said:
Tetenal once offered a varnish dedicated for this purpose. The idea was to dip the snippet into it. You even could remove it again with a dedicated solvent.

Today you would have to chose from the offer of varnishes that are dedicated for extra thin coatings and with a fast evaporating solvent. You may might even find a solvent that lets you take off the varnish again without harming the film. You need to experiment.

That’s exactly what I’m looking for! Do you remember the name of the varnish?

AgX · May 15, 2022

Repolisan

But as said experiment with thin coating varnishes available today. Repolisan was sold in an aluminium bottle, but samples today most likely will need sovent added again anyway.

wiltw · May 15, 2022

Been around for many decades

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/16693-REG/Edwal_EDNS1_No_Scratch_Liquid.html

Not 'permanent'

gone · May 15, 2022

While there is no "permanent", there most certainly is "messed up and can't fix it".

The nose grease would be my route because it's not harmful to the neg and can be wiped off and reapplied as needed. Using anything that is non reversible would not be the path I would take.

If you went w/ the nose deal and used a diffusion enlarger, I think you'd be fine.

Bill Burk · May 15, 2022

It’s mostly turpentine. Doesn’t dry (quickly).

AgX · May 15, 2022

The same as with my proposal on varnish: experiment on compounds.

In this case with lesser volatile organic solvents. (Generic names of these differ between languages.)

The advantage of such solvents is that finally there is no residue, in contrast to oils.

Bill Burk · May 15, 2022

From “The Omega Enlarger Guide” 1954

You can use Vaseline.

AgX · May 15, 2022

How can film base absorb vaseline?

Or is this about the emulsion side? In any case a weird article.

Fixing Scratch in Base of Film

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