Scratched negative

Well, this is the second time I have done this to a negative I truly liked. I am using a sponge tongs to wipe the negatives before hanging to dry. The scratches run right through my massive expanse of a forehead. I have tried running the film between my fingers and that works fine on 35mm but 120 is to big and I wind up with streaks. Will the negatives dry just fine all on their own? I am using photoflo. Maybe I just need to try hanging a roll and see what happens. My 4 yr old son took the photo-even agitated the negs, needless to say he was a little frustrated with Dad after I ruined all his work.
Your thoughts and comments to help me find a better system are appreciated

Thanks,
Matt
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Many people don't use squeegees because they can cause scratches. You might want to consider ditching yours if you're running into scratches as a result; just hang the negatives to dry after a dunk in Photo Flo and/or a spray with distilled water. Personally, I get drying marks when I do this, so I'm still (cautiously) using a squeegee....

As to your existing question, there are ways to deal with scratches, particularly if they're on the base (non-emulsion) side of the negative. One is to use oil from the sides of your nose; lay down a thin layer and it should enter the scratch and even things out, making it possible to print without seeing the scratch. If you prefer to keep bodily secretions off your negatives, you can buy scratch-hiding fluids. I've used one of these (called Hide-a-Scratch, IIRC) and it works wonders, at least for scratches that are on the base side of the film -- I've never tried it with scratches in the emulsion itself, but I suspect it wouldn't be very effective for those. In either case (nose oil or a commercial product), you should wash away the scratch-hiding substance after you've printed the negative. I use PEC-12 and PEC pads for this purpose.

I usualy let mine air-dry after a dunk or three in some photo-flo. I found that it helps to hang them at a slight angle and to put them someplace where they don't dry overly fast. Hanging at an angle allows the water to sheet off to the edge before flowing down, and slower drying allow time for the water to flow off for the most part. To get the angle, try cliping one top corner and then the opposite corner at the bottom.

- Randy

I have never used a squeegie on any film, ever...that includes negatives as large as 12 inches by 20 inches. I use photoflo in distilled water before hanging them to dry. Too much photoflo is capable of causing streaks...it takes very little.

Nose oil worked!

Well, the nose oil took care of the problem. I still plan to use the distilled water and photoflo.

Thanks for all your help--I will go back and try to fix the other negative I had the same problem with!

This has been my solution for eliminating scratches. After hanging I squirt both sides of the film with distilled water and don't touch it again untill after it is completly dried. No photoflo, no fingers, no sponges, no squeegies. I keep a tray under the hanging film for the drippings.

Aside: I also found scratching resulted from using bulk load film cans more then 3 times. The felt seems not to last to long and gets full of crap, microscopic crap.

Donald Miller is right on. Kodak recommends diluting Photo Flo 200 1:200. I dispense Photo-Flo 200 with an eyedropper, one drop per ounce of distilled water. That's a tiny fraction of Kodak's instructions. Hang the negatives in a place as free of dust as possible, and block any air conditioning or forced heating to forther reduce dust on the negatives.

Do the photoflow enduced marks run along the film in the same direction or are they random in direction?