Negative Cleaner

[mrred]

I picked up a book "Manual of Enlarging" (1940) by Stephen White A.R.P.S. Inside there was a formula for a negative cleaner.

13 ounces Ethyl Alcohol
2 ounces Methyl Alcohol
1 ounce Strong Ammonia (28%)

It seems kind of strong, by my eye. Is this comparable in quality to the Edwal stuff I normally buy? I use pyro and would this stuff strip the stain?

 

[Kevin Caulfield]

Isopropanol works well. Ammonia could be a problem.

 

[synj00]

What are the benefits of working with these 3 chemicals vs just regular Isoprophyl alcohol? (Isopropanol just another name for isoprophyl(?))

 

[Wade D]

It seems rather strong to me. I have a bottle of Kodak film cleaner which works well and dries fast. It smells of acetone but I don't know the formula. Try the 1940 formula on some unimportant negs and see what happens. The Edwal product is reliable as well.

 

[George Collier]

There was a thread in this forum for Alcohol and film some time ago you might be able to find, discussed many issues of using alcohol. You might be able to find it.

 

[Bruce Watson]

What are the benefits of working with these 3 chemicals vs just regular Isoprophyl alcohol? (Isopropanol just another name for isoprophyl(?))

Drug store "rubbing alcohol" contains a fair amount of water. The water will soften the emulsion and make it sticky. This in turn will make it stick to whatever it comes in contact with, like dirt, dust, a film holder, storage sleeve, whatever.

This is why a dedicated film cleaner is recommended. Like PEC-12.

 

[Mahler_one]

Thanks Bruce....great information.

Ed

 

[haryanto]

I use PEC 12 it's great, it's even remove ink

 

[Denis K]

Is this comparable in quality to the Edwal stuff I normally buy?

If you are using the Edwal Anti-Static Color Film Cleaner the MSDS says it is based on >95% Trichloroethane, so no it would not be the same.

I've used Delta 1 Film Cleaner in the past and if my memory is correct (which may be chancy) it was based on Ethyl and Methyl as well. I remember seeing a MSDS for Delta 1 many years ago but try as I might I can't get any of the MSDS search engines to pull up a MSDS for it now. That makes you wonder why some photo shops still sell it. I noticed that B&H won't send it through the mail but still sells it in their store.

My original interest in the Ethyl/Methyl mix is whether I could just use pure Ethyl. My suspicion is that the Methyl is added to denature the alcohol to exempt it from Federal tax. Someone convinced me that if you want to have a gereral purpose bottle of alcohol at home you might as well make it Everclear. The thinking was that it makes it a lot easier to get ride when it comes time to clear out the old chemicals. Sound like solid reasoning to me.

In your formula the Strong Ammonia is the component that scares me. Ammonia has a way of messing with some plastics. I wonder, does anyone knows if it is safe to use on the newer polyester film bases?

Denis K