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My film is drying right now!! The drops dont move!!

Fellipe de Paula

Member
Allowing Ads
Joined
Aug 31, 2009
Messages
50
Location
Brazil
Format
35mm RF
Just finished my first bw film process and it's hanging right now to dry. But the water drops just do not move. Is this normal? What's the average time for the film to dry?
 
I always do a 30 second bath in a weak Kodak Photo Flo solution before hanging them to dry. I've had water spots on an occasion when I didn't do this.... If you have any I would consider re-wetting.

I'm sure others have had different experiences as is always the case.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I would recommend distilled water plus a little surfactant like photo flo. No matter what tap water seems to give me some gunk.
 
One spot problem I had was solved by washing longer, I had not washed the fix away enough.
 
Tip:

After you hang your film up, leave. Come back hours later. It will save you a lot of agonizing over your film.
 
30 sec in a weak photoflo will solve the problem (use distilled water if you can). Re-wetting the film will not hurt it.
 
I just let it sit in the solution for 30 sec or so. No inversions, no nothing.
 
My method is to vigorously rinse my roll film in processing-temperature distilled water for about a minute after normal washing. Then shake the reels to remove the bulk of the rinse water. Attach hanging clips to the film ends and very gently "snap" the film twice to remove any final larger drops. Thirty-six frames does require longer arms. No squeegee. No fingers. No wiping. Nothing touches the wet film.

Then hang over the sink and get out. Don't want any dust kicked up at that point. When I return after three to four hours my roll films have always been perfect. I can't remember ever having even a single spot. They also dry uncannily flat, both 35mm and 120. Perhaps always using Ilford film has something to do with that final outcome?

Ken
 
Yes, agitation ideally involves inversion (although some would argue about that). Allow at least three hours for drying, depending on the ambient temperature.
 
BetterSense said:
Tip:

After you hang your film up, leave. Come back hours later. It will save you a lot of agonizing over your film.
Click to expand...

Best advice so far. Film looks terrible when drying. Provided you processes it correctly and used photoflo, it should turn out fine. Take two beers and check it in the morning.
 
No, you don't need to agitate at all. Photoflo is nothing more than a mild surfactant, and it will foam up if you agitate too much. All you need do is dip the film into the Photoflo, make sure it all gets wet with the stuff, then hang it up to dry. Don't do anything else. Don't use a squeegee. Don't use your fingers. Just leave it alone until it dries. Drying time is dependent on relative humidity and temperature, so there's no real answer to how long it will take. Two hours is about the absolute minimum I've seen, but that's in winter with a very low relative humidity. In summer, when it's very humid, it can take 4 or 5 hours.
 
My water is pretty soft normally, I use a sink print syphon, drop the spirals in the sink leave for the recc time. Then add a few drips of photo detergent foam the water with the reel, clip the film to the rail above the sink, and film squeegee. It drys quicker that way.

If you have hard water you are going to have to final rinse in demineralised.

Noel
 
Fellipe de Paula said:
Agitation = Inversion?
Click to expand...
******
Not necessary. I just stick my finger in the center of the reel and move it up and down in the tank or the container of wetting agent. Oftentimes I use a one quart/liter of very week wetting agent and agitate it enough to get some froth. By the time I move from the wet side of the darkroom to the dry side holding the dripping reel, the wetting agent is sheeting off the film. I unspool the film and hang it up to dry. Vertically. No spots. Ever. I use a fresh wetting agent bath and filtered tap water, or boiled and filtered AC run-off water which I collect during our hot, humid, summers.
And, as BetterSense advises, I then leave the darkroom to allow the film to dry undisturbed.
 
thebanana said:
I just let it sit in the solution for 30 sec or so. No inversions, no nothing.
Click to expand...

What he said. PhotoFlo is reusable and lasts forever.

No shaking and no inversions. Just let it sit for 30 seconds.

If you film dries with spots, soak in water for five minutes and then use PhotoFlo for 30 seconds.

Steve
 
Sirius Glass said:
What he said. PhotoFlo is reusable and lasts forever.
Click to expand...

No, it doesn't. The concentrate has an indefinite shelf life. Once diluted to working strength, some sort of nasties will grow in the solution. I don't know what it is. I've heard that it might be some sort of bacteria. In any case, it is not a good idea to store used working strength Photoflo. Three or four drops in 500 ml. of water is usually all you need to get the job done. With my water supply, I can run it at 1:400 and still have good sheeting action. No spots.
 
Yes. I would not keep recycling PhotoFlo. Besides, with the extremely low cost/use one can one-shot it everytime and still have years before they need a new container of PhotoFlo.

I use 1:400.
 
I have re-used my diluted wetting agent several times without noticing any growths in it. If the liquid looks as good as it did when you first made it up then I'd continue to use it. It cost practically nothing to make a fresh solution each time and then throw it away but it just adds time and effort to do so. My attitude is: If the wetting agent looks fine then why change it and add to the time spent in processing film.

I have a drying cabinet with a fan pushing air at room temperature into the cabinet. The film is dry in about 20 minutes. I can't say how long it might take if there was no air being passed over the film. If I didn't have a cabinet and I was in a hurry I'd use a fan or even a hair dryer on its lowest heat setting - provided there was no dust in the room.

If you intend to continue to process your own films for several years or maybe for as long as you live or film lives : then getting a drying cabinet makes a lot of sense. It is dust free and quick and even small cabinets allow 4 films to be dried at once.

pentaxuser
 
I also have a drying cabinet and I can tell you that the film is not dry in 20 minutes. It's surface dry, at best.
 
I would have to agree with Clayne. Our instructors at U of M tell us that it takes 20-30 minutes to dry a strip of negatives in the cabinet dryer. Well, people have been taking that as a rule instead of a guideline (an incorrect one at that) and one of my strips of negatives was almost ruined after I used an enlarger where someone had put a tack dry negative and then left the enlarger head open. It looked like it was snowing on the riverfront when I printed the negative. I can assure you though, that kid will never.. ever.. make that mistake again.
 
Who Have Tried It That Will Knock It?

Fellipe de Paula said:
Just finished my first bw film process and it's hanging right
now to dry. But the water drops just do not move. Is this
normal? What's the average time for the film to dry?
Click to expand...

I stand by the eight blade film squeegee as a best
way to a clean quick dry. Mine is a Jobo with which
I've considerable experience. There are several other
eight blades on the market.

After the film's short soak in 1/2 strength Photo Flo
and hung the eight blade has it's rinse. A slow steady
draw the length of the film will reduce surface water
to near zero. Film dries very fast.

Less than $20 from Freestyle. Dan
 
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