Sandy Film

[nickandre]

I just processed a roll of color film and somehow there was sand in the bottom of my tempering bucket and I used it to rinse out my film. Woops. It's now embedded in the film. I tried on an unexposed area to remove it by moving my finger across the film. It worked somewhat. How do I remove it with minimal damage?

Also I tried cleaning film with a tissue and film cleaner and apparently scratched it. What else can I use?

 

[Nikanon]

The film cleaner may have removed some of the Silver build up with that tissue, i usually use a cotton swab , but its best to do a general wash if something is wrong. If the sand grain is embedded in the actual silver build up then removal will remove density as there was no buildup in the area the grain occupied, in that case leaving the grain is the best option, otherwise your welcomed by an unwanted black or darker spot on your print .

 

[nickandre]

I should mention that it was color film and I received scratches on the base side. For some reason my stabilizer has been giving me gunk and I'm hesitant to dilute it because I might lose the bacteriacide.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Just a suggestion: Do not load film into the developing tank at the beach. Wait unit you get home.

Steve

 

[mts]

I have a similar problem with sand in the water. Our municipal water comes from very deep wells and is quite hard. There is precipitate in the hot water and sand in both hot and cold. Of course I used distilled water for developer and stabilizer, but washing and tempering is done with tap water. Filter screens catch most of the sand but require periodic cleaning because they clog up with the debris. Except for the solids from wells and old pipes, the water quality is quite good. If you don't have filters in your water lines you might consider adding them.