How Long Should I Dry Negatives?

Masuro · May 31, 2007

I hang up developed film in a spare bathroom that is rarely used and thus fairly dry. How long should I leave my negatives hanging? I've been developing in the evening and putting them in plastic sheets in the morning. Will a few hours of drying do? Do I simply just have to wait until I don't see water?

goros · May 31, 2007

Hi Masuro,

I keep them drying until I feel the film rebate (the film lead that is burnt when loading in the camera) dry when touching it, usually after 2-3 hours.

Cheers

Masuro · May 31, 2007

Thank you for the quick reply. This will speed up my work a bit.

Monophoto · May 31, 2007

You should dry them until they are dry.

Seriously, if you look at the emulsion side of the negative as it is drying, you can see a distinct change in the surface as moisture evaporates. Roll film negatives dry from the outside in, and you can see the surface taking on a more dull appearance starting at the outside edges, and gradually progressing toward the center of the strip. Leave them hanging until the surface appearance is uniform.

If you are drying sheet film negatives, you will find that moisture will accumulate at the bottom edge (or bottom corner if the negative is not perfectly plumb). You should let them dry until that drop of moisture disappears completely.

Film emulsion expands very slightly when it is wet, and you want to make sure that it has dried completely before you handle the negatives. Putting film into sleeves before it is fully dry will cause (1) the negatives to stick to the sleeves and (2) scratches. Either will ruin the negatives.

The time required to dry depends on the temperature and humidity in the area where the negatives are hanging. You can speed up the drying process by passing warm, dry, filtered air over the negatives. In a heated drying cabinet with forced air flow, negatives will dry in less than an hour. If you just hang them in a room, it can easily take overnight.

jmdavis · May 31, 2007

I would not rush to get them in sleeves. Even a little moisture will create a problem. I usually get them hung up around midnight and find that they are dry by 6:30-8:00 am. In the meantime, I leave them alone.

The one time I tried to cut this process short (they looked dry and seemed to feel dry), I found my negatives stuck in the sleeves the next day. Not good.

Mike

matti · May 31, 2007

I try to take mine down as quickly as possible to get less dust on them.
/matti

Anscojohn · May 31, 2007

If they are in a dust free place and dry to touch, they do not need to be taken down.unless you need the space.

FWIW, we were taught in ye oldene dayz that if you could leave a neg to dry for twenty four hours, you would get sharper results because by then the neg had "cured."

Whether that old lab rat's advice was sound, I know not; but when I have the time I do that. when not, then he taught that a quick alcohol/water bath would dry the negs in a jiffy. I rarely use that approach.

Anscojohn, Mount Vernon, Virginia USA

Adrian Twiss · Jun 1, 2007

I used to dry my films in the bathroom which was fully tiled. I left them over night and very seldom had trouble with dust.

dancqu · Jun 1, 2007

matti said:
I try to take mine down as quickly as possible
to get less dust on them.
/matti

I Photo-Flo rinse my 120 and 8 blade film squeegee.
With film hanging I very carefully pull the blades downward
applying a gentil pressure. Film dries fast. The amount of
time needed to dry depends upon the thickness of the
emulsion and the environment. Dan

Masuro · Jun 5, 2007

The answer appears to be that there is no right answer. I usually develop in the late evenings so I guess I will just leave them overnight as I always did. Thanks for your many replies. I learned a lot.

INKspired · Nov 9, 2011

Anscojohn said:
If they are in a dust free place and dry to touch, they do not need to be taken down.unless you need the space.

FWIW, we were taught in ye oldene dayz that if you could leave a neg to dry for twenty four hours, you would get sharper results because by then the neg had "cured."

Whether that old lab rat's advice was sound, I know not; but when I have the time I do that. when not, then he taught that a quick alcohol/water bath would dry the negs in a jiffy. I rarely use that approach.

Anscojohn, Mount Vernon, Virginia USA

Hello! I am not a photographer, but I'm an aspiring author and one of the characters in my latest book is a photographer.
I was wondering what kind of camera you are holding in your profile picture... It looks very old and antique, which is exactly the kind of camera I want in my story....
I know this is a strange request, but I would really appreciate any information you can give me: about the camera, the model, when it came out, how well it works, the film... The more info the better!
Thank you very much,
Alex

Jim Noel · Nov 9, 2011

Squeegeeing film should be a no-no. A small piece of dust is all it takes to put scratches on the film.
Use a Kim wipe or similar, or chamois t wipe down the base side of the film, but not the emulsion. Water marks are always on the base, not the emulsion because as the emulsion dries it absorbs the water droplets.
A film is dry when the very bottom corner is dry.

shutterclank · Nov 9, 2011

i dry my negatives either over night or for a day. i keep them in a drying cabinet i built, but i generally am not pressed for time.

cliveh · Nov 9, 2011

dancqu said:
I Photo-Flo rinse my 120 and 8 blade film squeegee.
With film hanging I very carefully pull the blades downward
applying a gentil pressure. Film dries fast. The amount of
time needed to dry depends upon the thickness of the
emulsion and the environment. Dan

A bathroom is a good place to dry film and leave overnight to dry. I would never use a squeegee on film.

Rick A · Nov 9, 2011

Although the negatives look and feel dry, I let them hang a few more hours to allow the emulsion harden. It takes the emulsion longer to fully cure and harden, thus less chance of scratches. Like Anscojohn sez, they also appear sharper. I also use the alcohol mixed in with LFN (wetting agent)and distilled water to speed drying, I still allow extra time for the emulsion to harden.

RalphLambrecht · Dec 13, 2017

Masuro said:
I hang up developed film in a spare bathroom that is rarely used and thus fairly dry. How long should I leave my negatives hanging? I've been developing in the evening and putting them in plastic sheets in the morning. Will a few hours of drying do? Do I simply just have to wait until I don't see water?

overnight is perfect

chiller · Dec 13, 2017

In the middle of a 42 degree day it is too hot and the negs can dry too quickly with attendant watermarking if you have not used a distilled/photo flo water rinse. In a raining high humid day the film may take an extended time because of the humidity. In the tropics - who knows with both heat and humidity. If you don't have a permanent darkroom you can still make a temporary drying enclosure to mitigate dust spots. 99% of the time a squeegee "may" work. It is that 1% where a non repeatable shot is gouged by the visibly clean blade. It is not worth it.
The answer that resonates best with me is "They are dry when they are dry."

BAC1967 · Dec 14, 2017

How did the one hour photo developers do it so fast? I remember getting my prints and negatives back after an hour with the negatives in sleeves and the prints stacked together. They must have been perfectly dry.

I usually develop one night then scan or print the next, so about 24 hours.

Bill Burk · Dec 14, 2017

One hour processors dry by forced heat.

I would want negs really dry for plastic sleeves but glassine would breathe so they could go in sooner. Even if not archival I use a little of each.

Now I have been guilty of leaving negs hanging so long that flies land on them and leave marks... giving me an incentive to cut and page them as quickly as safe.

Slixtiesix · Dec 14, 2017

When developing in the evening, I put the film in sleeves next morning. When developing in the morning, I do so in the evening.

rpavich · Dec 14, 2017

Masuro said:
The answer appears to be that there is no right answer. I usually develop in the late evenings so I guess I will just leave them overnight as I always did. Thanks for your many replies. I learned a lot.

If you want to speed up your negative drying then make a negative dryer. It's made out of a piece of PVC tube about 1 foot long with a small fan at one end that blows air through the tube (ducting fan or computer cooling fan) and a filter taped to it to keep the dust from getting on the negatives.

First I put the reel into a salad spinner and spin about 25 turns very fast to fling the water off as much as possible, this gets the loose water off of the surface with no visible water. Then I put the reel in the tube and turn the fan on and after a short time (for me 50 minutes) the negs are completely dry and dust free. I put them in the sleeves then without a problem.

Helinophoto · Dec 14, 2017

I use the shower itself as a gauge, because I usually steam up the bathroom, to take down flying dust-particles before hanging the negatives into the shower-cabinet.

If the shower has gotten reasonably dry (around 2 hours), I tend to check the negatives to see how uniformly straight they are and if I can see any drops (especially in the sprocket holes).
It is pretty dry here, especially in winter, so mine dries quickly, I have experienced a drop or two here and there when I have started scanning them, but I just let the strip hang about 30 minutes more and things are good.

If the film below the hanging-clips is still wet, I hang them for another 30 minutes.

I did experience not yet dry emulsion in 120 once, since I was too quick to start scanning (I always scan my negatives before putting them into sleeves) and it was easy to see that they weren't dry yet, since the center of the photo's had some kind of weird blur

I suppose you learn how long it takes with your particular set-up.
A heated bathroom also plays a big role in drying time.

BAC1967 · Dec 14, 2017

rpavich said:
If you want to speed up your negative drying then make a negative dryer. It's made out of a piece of PVC tube about 1 foot long with a small fan at one end that blows air through the tube (ducting fan or computer cooling fan) and a filter taped to it to keep the dust from getting on the negatives.

First I put the reel into a salad spinner and spin about 25 turns very fast to fling the water off as much as possible, this gets the loose water off of the surface with no visible water. Then I put the reel in the tube and turn the fan on and after a short time (for me 50 minutes) the negs are completely dry and dust free. I put them in the sleeves then without a problem.

So you leave the film on the reel until it’s dry? Is there any disadvantage to this? I know with plastic reels you don’t want to us photo-flo but I use stainless steel. I always take the film off the reel, dip it in photo-flo then hang it from a clip to dry lengthwise. I would consider making a dryer with a fan and filter if it didn’t need to be 5 feet tall. I could easily make a small table top one that I drop the reel into.

Pat Erson · Dec 14, 2017

matti said:
I try to take mine down as quickly as possible to get less dust on them.
/matti

I do the opposite I close the door of my basement darkroom and let my negs dry for 48 hrs. No dust!

darkosaric · Dec 14, 2017

Pat Erson said:
I close the door of my basement darkroom and let my negs dry for 48 hrs. No dust!

Same here, but for 24h .

How Long Should I Dry Negatives?

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