How to remove the emulsion from a developed/fixed film

narigas2006 · Feb 17, 2007

Hi,

i wanna get some clear acetate from fixed films, how should I remove fixed emulsions? many thanks.

Eric Rose · Feb 17, 2007

why not just develop andn fix some unexposed film and use that?

jstraw · Feb 17, 2007

just fix it..no dev

lonelyboy · Feb 17, 2007

use a knife to scape the emulsion off

Photo Engineer · Feb 17, 2007

Probably removing the emulsion will also remove the subbing layer and prevent further coatings from adhering to the film support. I would go with the fixing washing and drying.

Scraping will scratch the film.

PE

jim appleyard · Feb 17, 2007

I'm not sure what your purpose is, but fixing will only remove the silver from the emulsion, not remove the emulsion from the base. Am I correct?

If you actually wish to remove the emulsion in its entirety, try hot water, very hot water. Gelatin should dissolve in hot water.

juan · Feb 17, 2007

I got my darkroom solutions mixed up once and dunked developed negatives in straight Clorox for about 30-seconds rather than fixer. There was no trace of an image left.
juan

Rombo · Feb 17, 2007

You should use hot water at aprox. 80 degree Celsius. Put film inside and then gently rub all emulsion with nails or fingers. It should work.

raucousimages · Feb 17, 2007

Soak in a warm solution of sodium carbonate. This is the same process to do chemical reticulation. If you reticulate too long the emulsion just slides off without scrubbing and avoids scratching the film base. Plus-X, Tri-X and other older films work well. Newer T-grain emulsions are very hard to remove.

gainer · Feb 17, 2007

Clorox is easiest and quickest.

Photo Engineer · Feb 17, 2007

I stress again that if you wish to coat on the film afterwards, you will remove the subbing layer with these treatments and will have to re-sub the support somehow.

PE

gainer · Feb 17, 2007

While we are on the subject, does the subbing layer contain any dye? The only time I ever purposely removed the emulsion it was for the purpose of measuring the base density that some films use to prevent light piping in 35 mm film. I'd rather not talk about the accidental times.

Photo Engineer · Feb 17, 2007

The subbing layer contains no dye. The support contains a conductive material.

PE

narigas2006 · Feb 17, 2007

Thanks for all the replies, but what is clorox?

Thank you all, I am presuming clorox is normal bleach (sodium hypochlorite). It does not remove the emulsion of film in a large scale (about 15m of film). The thing is that I wanna get rid of the exposed (and developed and fixed) emulsion from some film (16mm) I have. I was stupid enough to buy polyester clean leader base and thinking well now, if the film jam, my poor 16mm camera will be f... So I wanna get some clear acetate instead. I'll try the hot water + (what do you think about tiocianatye?). cheers

CRhymer · Feb 18, 2007

narigas2006 said:
Thank you all, I am presuming clorox is normal bleach (sodium hypochlorite). It does not remove the emulsion of film in a large scale (about 15m of film). The thing is that I wanna get rid of the exposed (and developed and fixed) emulsion from some film (16mm) I have. I was stupid enough to buy polyester clean leader base and thinking well now, if the film jam, my poor 16mm camera will be f... So I wanna get some clear acetate instead. I'll try the hot water + (what do you think about tiocianatye?). cheers

Hello,

If you want clear acetate leader, Chlorox (sodium hypochlorite) will certainly work. Just put your 15m un-spooled into a pail and let it sit a while. I have done this a number of times. Then just wipe the emulsion off with a soft cloth (most of it will just float away) and rinse well. Since polyester (estar) leader does not work with film cement, I use old acetate film lengths (stripped) for leaders with acetate based film. Clean acetate leader can also be dissolved to make film cement. This used to be an issue for me, due to my remote location, but Kodak film cement is still available - but not easy to find.

Why are you using leader in your camera? Daylight load spools have extra film to allow for a little waste at each end. 16mm cartridges, which are still available (though sometimes out of date) and re-loadable (with some care) have almost no waste.

Have I understood your question correctly? Why do you think polyester film will jam your camera? Are you trying to re-coat acetate with new emulsion? Oh, one more thing, that is a 16mm cine camera, isn't it?

Cheers,
Clarence

juan · Feb 18, 2007

Yes, Clorox is normal chlorine bleach.
juan

narigas2006 · Feb 18, 2007

Thanks Clarence, I want to recoat the fbase with home-made emulsion and I have clean polyester base (and while it does not happen to often, it still can happen (jamming) and i was afraid of breaking the claw . Yes, that's 16mm cine camera. Many thanks.

CRhymer said:
Hello,

If you want clear acetate leader, Chlorox (sodium hypochlorite) will certainly work. Just put your 15m un-spooled into a pail and let it sit a while. I have done this a number of times. Then just wipe the emulsion off with a soft cloth (most of it will just float away) and rinse well. Since polyester (estar) leader does not work with film cement, I use old acetate film lengths (stripped) for leaders with acetate based film. Clean acetate leader can also be dissolved to make film cement. This used to be an issue for me, due to my remote location, but Kodak film cement is still available - but not easy to find.

Why are you using leader in your camera? Daylight load spools have extra film to allow for a little waste at each end. 16mm cartridges, which are still available (though sometimes out of date) and re-loadable (with some care) have almost no waste.

Have I understood your question correctly? Why do you think polyester film will jam your camera? Are you trying to re-coat acetate with new emulsion? Oh, one more thing, that is a 16mm cine camera, isn't it?

Cheers,
Clarence

CRhymer · Feb 18, 2007

narigas2006 said:
Thanks Clarence, I want to recoat the fbase with home-made emulsion and I have clean polyester base (and while it does not happen to often, it still can happen (jamming) and i was afraid of breaking the claw . Yes, that's 16mm cine camera. Many thanks.

Hi,

In that case (re-coating) I have no idea what effect chlorine bleach may have to the acetate base. I suspect PE is right and you will have to re-sub. I don't know how long you would have to wash to get rid of the residual bleach. At any rate, what kind of camera to you have? and how do you propose to do the coating? if you don't mind me asking.

Cheers,
Clarence

How to remove the emulsion from a developed/fixed film

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