messed up my film with new Squeegee

Terry Breedlove · Aug 14, 2016

So the other morning I woke up early and headed for the beach. Took the Hasselblad and some Fuji Acros film 100 iso with me. Which i have never shot with before so this was a chance to test it and get a good walk in. Got to the beach and realized I forgot my phone in the truck and that is what I use to keep time when shooting the long exposures. So I decided to count the seconds off. 1 alligator 2 alligator three alligator up to 34 seconds on some shots. Not the most accurate and scientific method but it is what it is sometimes. Thankfully all of my exposures came out great. Then after developing the film i used a new fresh out of the box Squeegee. TROUBLE ! Looking at my film I saw all this thick greasy stuff all over it. Since the only thing that touched it after washing was me and the new water squeegee. I knew because I looked after washing the film that it was clean and looked perfect it must be the new squeegee. I took a look at it and all over the blades was the same compound. YUK ! I have tried and tried to clean the film but it is no good. This image here I did what I could in Photoshop to clean it but still no good. Oh well I cleaned the squeegee and will try again. The reason I was shooting Fuji was because I got bit by the bad 120 TMAX backing paper thing and you can't order it right now. I just can't seem to win. LOL

bdial · Aug 14, 2016

Why use a squeegee at all?

Though many people manage to use them successfully, they are also the source of a lot of scratching (or other) damage issues. The fewer things touching the film when wet, the better, in my experience.

MattKing · Aug 14, 2016

Do not use a squeegee - clean or not.

Andre Noble · Aug 14, 2016

Lesson learned. Don't use ANY squeegee on film.

Patrick Robert James · Aug 14, 2016

Alcohol might get the goop off, but if it is on the emulsion side you might have to soak it in alcohol a few times to get rid of it.

Squeegees are the devil's razorblades.

Terry Breedlove · Aug 14, 2016

I will try that. It is on both sides.

Terry Breedlove · Aug 14, 2016

No more squeegee

jimjm · Aug 14, 2016

Terry - I used a squeegee for years without any problem. Kept it meticulously clean and saw no reason to believe the naysayers who told me it was a bad idea.
Until I saw the long straight scratches on a freshly-developed roll of 120. I ruled out the camera as the problem since subsequent rolls taken were fine, except no squeegee.
Just a bit of Photoflo after the final rinse and there's really no reason to touch the film once it's hung.

Terry Breedlove · Aug 14, 2016

I have never used one before this is my first time. I will be developing some film tomorrow and back to the old way no squeegee.

Sirius Glass · Aug 14, 2016

The first mistake was using a squeegee.
The second mistake was using a squeegee.
The third mistake was using a squeegee.
The fourth mistake was using a squeegee.
...

Gerald C Koch · Aug 14, 2016

Do a final rinse in distilled water plus a drop or two of Photo-Flo. Should there be any water droplets on the base side of the film they can be removed with a photo grade sponge moistened with the same solution. Do not touch the emulsion side period.

Terry Breedlove · Aug 14, 2016

Sirius Glass said:
The first mistake was using a squeegee.
The second mistake was using a squeegee.
The third mistake was using a squeegee.
The fourth mistake was using a squeegee.
...

LOL Yea I agree

Terry Breedlove · Aug 14, 2016

Gerald C Koch said:
Do a final rinse in distilled water plus a drop or two of Photo-Flo. Should there be any water droplets on the base side of the film they can be removed with a photo grade sponge moistened with the same solution. Do not touch the emulsion side period.

Oh thank you I will. I do use photo flo so I will use distilled water tomorrow for a final rinse and let the film hang.

Helinophoto · Aug 15, 2016

Terry Breedlove said:
I will try that. It is on both sides.

It may be glue-residue?
Maybe alcohol will dissolve it, hard to say (acetone will, but that will also clear your film faster than you can say 'fix' ^_^ )

As others have stated, squeegee's are the work of the devil (tried it on one of my first films back in the day, scratched the film, tossed the thing in the garbage). Wet film should never be touched on the emulsion-side, I am even pretty OCD about touching the emulsion-side when the film has dried as well.

What I do, to get as much water off the film as possible, is to centrifuge the film before drying it. (it can be a pendulum-motion, or circular, like a salad-spinner or similar).

Just enough to fling as much of the excess water off the film as possible before drying it, seems to work well.

AgX · Aug 15, 2016

Some rubber compounds (as tires) after years of storage produce a white wax-like stuff on their surface.
Maybe it was that you experienced with the squeegee blades.

Jim Jones · Aug 15, 2016

Gerald C Koch said:
. . . Do not touch the emulsion side period.

Also be careful in touching the base side. It scratches as easily as the emulsion, which is as bad as a lightly scratched emulsion in a condenser enlarger.

ic-racer · Aug 15, 2016

As good as the APUG community is, I don't think a beginner can find an tutorial on this site that explains how to develop film without destroying it. I can't find it.

AgX · Aug 15, 2016

Jim Jones said:
Also be careful in touching the base side. It scratches as easily as the emulsion, which is as bad as a lightly scratched emulsion in a condenser enlarger.

A scratch in the base can be repaired, a scratch in the image layer spoils that photograph.

mehguy · Aug 15, 2016

Ive used my fingers to squeegee and every time Ive done it my film would get damaged so I just hang it up to dry and dont touch it at all.

Jim Jones · Aug 15, 2016

AgX said:
A scratch in the base can be repaired, a scratch in the image layer spoils that photograph.

It depends on how deep the scratch is. Of course a scratch that penetrates the image in the emulsion is serious. Very light scratching mostly results in light lines on the printed image.

Terry Breedlove · Aug 15, 2016

AgX said:
Some rubber compounds (as tires) after years of storage produce a white wax-like stuff on their surface.
Maybe it was that you experienced with the squeegee blades.

I think you are right that is exactly like what it is. It did clean up really nice with a sponge and dish soap but I can't be that rough with the film.

Kawaiithulhu · Aug 15, 2016

I used to squeegee prints prior to laying them out to dry, and will do so again when I complete my micro-darkroom setup this year.
I have always used photoflo (or equivalent) and run film through my wet fingers after hanging and before attaching the bottom weight.
Haven't had a problem since 1980 or so.
Just have to be gentle, it doesn't take much to effectively squish most of the water away.

mwdake · Aug 15, 2016

Sirius Glass said:
The first mistake was using a squeegee.
The second mistake was using a squeegee.
The third mistake was using a squeegee.
The fourth mistake was using a squeegee.
...

At least he used a Hasselblad.

mshchem · Aug 17, 2016

Instead of a squeegee when I want to really get that "Squeegee " look I use the course red Scotch Brite pads from the body shop.☺. I'm always so tempted to squeegee but just pretend it's color film and you'll be OK
Member of Squeegees Anonymous
Best Mike

Eric Rose · Aug 17, 2016

Heck I have been using a squeegee for 55 years and have never had an issue. I check the blades before use and leave the squeegee in the wash water overflow during film washing to make sure it's the same temp as the film.

messed up my film with new Squeegee

Terry Breedlove

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messed up my film with new Squeegee

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