Hywel,
This is how I was taught to clean my film with minimal damage:
1. Use a soft photo brush and compressed air to dislodge grit.
Grit quickly becomes an abrasive when it gets between a moving pad and your film. A powerful blower brush is preferable to canned air. Canned air propellents are often expelled in liquid form and can coat the film if one is not careful. I have had good luck with the “Dust-Off” brand compressed air, though I am mindful to always hold the can upright and motionless when spraying.
2. Use Photographic Solutions PEC-12 brand archival photographic emulsion cleaner fluid and PEC-Pad non-abrasive pads to remove oil and fingerprints.
a. A single PEC-12 Pad is large enough to be used as a work surface for film up to 6x7cm.
b. A second pad is used for cleaning. It should be folded twice lengthwise to 1/4 its width and then held by the opposing ends to form a triangle, like the old Lipton “flow through tea bag” ad. The base of this triangle will be used for cleaning, with the two sides being used to hold the pad and, like springs, to apply indirect pressure.
c. Fluid should be applied to the base of this triangle, not on the film itself.
d. Saturate the base of the pad and gently draw it across the film with just enough pressure to make contact with the film surface. We’re not scrubbing a sink here! The PEC-12 fluid evaporates almost immediately and with it goes most oils that would degrade your scan.
e. If there are flakes of dust that resisted the blower brush and compressed air, the fluid and gentle persuasion with the edge of a PEC-Pad will often free them. Don’t drag them across your film surface.
f. When you have cleansed one side of the film, flip it over.
g. Start fresh with your PEC-Pad to prevent contamination from the previous cleaning. To do so, simply reverse the orientation of the PEC-Pad so that the surface that was on the inside of the base of the triangle, now faces outward. You will realize that by unfolding and refolding the pad, you will easily be able to generate up to four “fresh” cleaning surfaces, and if you are very methodical, eight different surfaces. This really depends on how dirty the original you are scanning is. Err on the side of caution and use a fresh pad if in doubt.
