Separate container for photo flo rinse? Dirty reels

GarageBoy · Jul 14, 2015

I'm getting some sort of grey accumulation (Photo flo attracting dust?) on my reels and an overnight soak in dawn dish detergent simply made my reels smell like dawn

For those who use a separate container for photo flo- what are you using? Can I just use a kitchen mixing bowl or will the negatives touching each other be an issue?

pentaxuser · Jul 14, 2015

I'd not use photo-flo on reels but otthers seem to manage it without problems. I keep my photo-flo in a plastic container without problems. No leaks, no problems with tops or the plastic.

I should add that my photo-flo is not Kodak's but is Ilford's wetting agent but my understanding is that it is as near as damn it the same stuff

pentaxuser

Gerald C Koch · Jul 14, 2015

If you use too much Photo-Flo it can leave a greasy film on everything including negatives. Use a half to a third of what Kodak recommends.

gone · Jul 14, 2015

A household bowl works fine. That's what I use. You don't use much either (and if the neg touches the bowl, it has the photo-flo on it anyway). Just pour your mixed photo-flo into the bowl, unroll your film off the reel after washing it, hold the film by one end, and lower it into the photo-flo. It will curl up just as if it were on a spool. Pull it back out, whip it a few times to get the excess moisture off, and hang it in the bathroom. The whip part makes a huge difference in drying time, and assuming I used distilled water to mix up my photo-flo, I have never had drying marks on the negs,

bdial · Jul 14, 2015

It's really, really easy to use too much photo-flo if you use the "1 or 2 drops" method. I mix up a gallon using Kodak's dilution and use it one-shot. I give the reels a hot water rinse after the photo flo treatment and an occasional light scrub with a fine Scotch-brite pad. I've never had a problem with any accumulations on the reels.
I use mostly stainless reels. For plastic the occasional scrub is done with a soft brush. By occasional I mean maybe once in a year.

thefizz · Jul 14, 2015

I rinse my reels in hot water to get the wetting agent off and never have any need to clean them.

fotch · Jul 14, 2015

I remove the film from the developer reel and see-saw the film in a small bowl with photo-flow, sort of the way film use to be developed. That way the reels stay photo-flow free and the film gets removed from the reels anyway. Not much extra effort.

DannL. · Jul 14, 2015

fotch said:
I remove the film from the developer reel and see-saw the film in a small bowl with photo-flow, sort of the way film use to be developed. That way the reels stay photo-flow free and the film gets removed from the reels anyway. Not much extra effort.

I do the same. I use a 4x5 smooth bottom tray. About 3/8" of mixed photo-flo in the tray does the job.

destroya · Jul 14, 2015

I use paterson plastic reels and leave the film on the reels when I do the photoflo step

i use a just large enough plastic Tupperware bowl i bought at a 99 cent store that has a lid. using a separate bowl for the flo step is a necessary thing as I see it. never really understood why people put the photoflo in their tank they develop their film in. if they are, they then complain about bubbles or suds in their tanks a few days later.

once a month or after using my reels 4 times I soak them in boiling water that has cooled for a minute, for about 30 minutes and then let them air dry. I have never had any issues after doing this.

photoflo is cheap so just use it for one developing session and dump. then you have no worries about it clouding up or getting yucky

Bob Carnie · Jul 14, 2015

I use a 2 litre container with a small amount of photoflo, distilled water

I have never put the reels in photo flow but like others here see saw the film in the container and then hang to dry.

GarageBoy · Jul 14, 2015

Thanks- I might need try to vinegar (any one know what takes the gunk of the reels?) and a stiffer brush

Animalcito · Jul 14, 2015

I use cleaning tabs for third teeths over night and an old tooth brush the next day to clean the reels. Works fine and the reels are like new.

Using these tabs was a suggestion I read years ago in an outdoor magazine for cleaning the complex drinking mechanism of modern re-fillable water bottles.

mklw1954 · Jul 14, 2015

I make up PhotoFlo at half the recommended concentration, using distilled water and store it in a plastic bottle. I use stainless reels and tanks and just place the reels/film in another stainless developing tank containing PhotFlo for 30 seconds (one-shot use). I rinse everything well with cold water and have never had any buildup on reels or in a tank.

Richard S. (rich815) · Jul 14, 2015

I switched from photoflo to Edwal's LPN lately because I was getting some residue in between sprockets on my 35mm film which I suspect was from photoflo and it affected my Nikon 4000 scanner frame-reading when using the spooling bulk-scanning feature. I will admit at first I had trouble with effectiveness from LPN until I learned to agitate 10-12 times in a minute after putting the 2-3 drops in. Works great. No residue at all.

DREW WILEY · Jul 14, 2015

You re-use that stuff?? My garsh! All it takes is a tiny bit to make a fresh batch, plus your distilled water. It will grow water mold (Saprolegnia).

Sirius Glass · Jul 14, 2015

Jobo tanks, drums and reels must not be used with PhotoFlo, use a separate container without reels.
Steel reels can go in PhotoFlo but must be thorough washed out with hot water.
I run PhotoFlo through a filter after use to get any waste or debris out of the solution.

GRHazelton · Jul 14, 2015

I've been using the stuff from Photographers Formulary. 1 or 2 drops in 600ml distilled water. I periodically run the Paterson reels through the dishwasher. I like to swab the dried film with Edwal's film cleaner, seems to help with static electricity. So far, so good.

Gerald C Koch · Jul 14, 2015

I use SS reels and occasionally give them an overnight soak in a weak sodium carbonate solution, roughly 10 g/l. Photo-Flo contains an anti-foaming agent made from tallow. This what causes the greasiness. The active ingredient in Photo-Flo is Triton X-100 a surfactant.

The following solution works like Photo-Flo but will not produce any greasy film. Since there is no anti-foaming agent avoid agitating the dilute solution too much.

Propylene glycol 250 ml
Triton X-100 75 ml
Water to make 1 l

X-100 is miscible with difficulty with water. So mix the glycol and X-110 together and then add the water.

Dilute and use just as you would Photo-Flo.

You can get the ingredients from www.chemistrystore.com.

AgX · Jul 14, 2015

That grey residue likely is just a residue of metallic silver. Try cleaning your reels with the bleach out of one of the chromogenic colour processes.

MattKing · Jul 14, 2015

I use a 1 litre measuring graduate from the Dollar store. The film comes off the reels, is see-sawed through the Photo Flo, and then hung to dry.

I use Photo Flo one shot, unless I am developing several films one after the other. In that case I re-use it through the session.

I mix up a stock solution of 1 part Photo Flo plus 7 parts 70% Isopropyl Alcohol. Generally, I make up 8 oz/250 ml at a time. That stock solution keeps well for a long time. Then, for use, I dilute the stock solution. Kodak's standard 1:200 dilution would result from mixing 1 part stock with 24 parts water. We have quite soft water here, so I am more likely to mix it 1 part stock with 39 parts water.

cliveh · Jul 14, 2015

Don't use photo flo, just de-ionised water as final rinse.

Sirius Glass · Jul 14, 2015

cliveh said:
Don't use photo flo, just de-ionised water as final rinse.

Do not try this at home. I only have fifty years of using PhotoFlo at home. Next he will talk about using squegees and finger to wipe the film!

StephenT · Jul 14, 2015

Someone in a similar thread stated that they used a spray bottle and simply held the film over the sink and sprayed it on both sides with wetting agent.

I tried that and like it. However, I do not use the adjustable tip on the spray bottle - it seemed to add some aeration to the liquid. I just unscrewed it, use the sprayer without it, and spray carefully. Works great!

BenKrohn · Jul 14, 2015

I've never mixed it, and just use a few drops and don't leave it on the film long. A couple swirls or shakes rinse and squeegee. Maybe I'm not using it effectively, I like my results though.

Sirius Glass · Jul 15, 2015

BenKrohn welcome to APUG

Separate container for photo flo rinse? Dirty reels

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