Squeegee or no Squeegee

[alexmacphee]

I wager not one person contributing to this thread who
looks down on squeegeeing has ever used the eight
blade squeegee. A whole lot of knocking before
trying. The eight blade is well engineered. It
is not cheap. Dan

I don't squeegee, and my films dry perfectly. This is not knocking before trying. What problem is solved by a squeegee -- even an eight-bladed one -- that I don't have?

The only one I can think of might be drying time.

 

[dancqu]

I don't squeegee, and my films dry perfectly.
This is not knocking before trying. What problem
is solved by a squeegee -- even an eight-bladed
one -- that I don't have?

The only one I can think of might be
drying time.

Drying time in itself may or may not be a problem.
If drip dry were the ONLY way to dry film we'd simply
put up with it. For some a dust proof cabinet, air scrubber,
or air filtration, will be needed to keep the film clean
from air born contamination while it dries.

Another reason which is not at all obvious is the need to
keep clean water drops on the film surface from drawing
residual chemistry from the emulsion and leaving it on
the surface of the film. I mentioned this matter a few
weeks ago. The problem was water spots.

The squeegee I use, the eight blade, leaves no drops
on the surface. At most the very thinest of water film
remains and those very localized. Dan

 

[Perry Way]

Drying time in itself may or may not be a problem.
If drip dry were the ONLY way to dry film we'd simply
put up with it. For some a dust proof cabinet, air scrubber,
or air filtration, will be needed to keep the film clean
from air born contamination while it dries.

Another reason which is not at all obvious is the need to
keep clean water drops on the film surface from drawing
residual chemistry from the emulsion and leaving it on
the surface of the film. I mentioned this matter a few
weeks ago. The problem was water spots.

The squeegee I use, the eight blade, leaves no drops
on the surface. At most the very thinest of water film
remains and those very localized. Dan

There really isn't even an objectively correct answer. This is a subjective thing. No amount of science will support either side. Whether to risk scratching your negatives or whether to risk water spots. Nobody can claim that squeegeeing or not squeegeeing will always work. So.. really arguing about this topic isn't really worthy. It really is quite subjective. Trying to change someone's habits when they are subjectively rooted (as mystical) is like pulling teeth.

 

[Vaughn]

And one's circumstances help determine what methods works best. At the university we have a heated drying cabinet (w/fan). If the cabinet is already warm and the heat set too high (students are always in a hurry), excess photo-flo on the negs might start to dry before having a chance to run off. It is a long way down a roll of 36 exposures!

I keep the heat turned down...I even removed the dial so the students don't turn it on "Shake and Bake". I usually keep the heat and fan off when I hang negatives in there (usually late at night and I pick them up first thing in the morning...I'm not risking my negs in the hands of the students!)

Vaughn

 

[thefizz]

I never squeegee my films with anything. I just hang them to dry in a cabinet and they're fine. I did use a squeegee on the first few films I ever developed but soon regretted it.

 

[Willie Jan]

why would you wash the film in water to remove all residu thingies, and afterwards put grease from your fingers onto the film????

 

[Sirius Glass]

why would you wash the film in water to remove all residu thingies, and afterwards put grease from your fingers onto the film????

I am with you! It beat the sh*t out of me!

Steve

 

[Vaughn]

why would you wash the film in water to remove all residu thingies, and afterwards put grease from your fingers onto the film????

One's fingers do not produce any oil or grease -- there are no such glands on one's fingers. Any oil on one's fingers is from touching one's face, especially around the nose.

Vaughn

 

[Willie Jan]

One's fingers do not produce any oil or grease -- there are no such glands on one's fingers. Any oil on one's fingers is from touching one's face, especially around the nose.

Vaughn

first you are going to eat chicken, and afterwards develop your film.
I always wash my hands with soap before developing, but is everybody doing that???

 

[Sirius Glass]

first you are going to eat chicken, and afterwards develop your film.
I always wash my hands with soap before developing, but is everybody doing that???

Only if they do not want the film to catch swine flu.

Steve

 

[srmcnamara]

When I first started all this black and white stuff, my school had us each buy a big box of green photo-wipes on the supply list. I used these for several years before they ran out. I never replaced them and now I just hang dry. I haven't had a problem either way.

 

[DramaKing]

I used my fingers a couple of times to squeegee film under the advice of my photography instructor. I didn't notice any increased number of scratches, but the water spots were terrible even with Photo-Flo.

 

[alexmacphee]

If your water spots were due to the water content, then Photo-Flo wouldn't help anyway. Photo-Flo and the like are aids to even drying, they don't take away any salts and the like which may be dissolved in the water. My water supply is pretty heavy with dissolved stuff like chalk, and that's why I use distilled or soft water for final rinses. I do occasionally use a wetting agent (the Ilford one), but it doesn't seem to make much difference one way or another, the real difference is in the purity of the final rinse water.

 

[paradoxbox]

squeegeeing film is just asking for scratches. no way.

use a little detergent (photo-flo) and the water rolls off the film without leaving spots. if you're having trouble with the water try filtering it first using a brita filter or something, or use distilled water.

 

[martinsmith99]

I'm new to B&W developing, but don't have a squeegee as I have heard the warnings.

I live in UK with hard water so drying marks are a problem. I've tried using fingers but that makes things worse. I've started using a supply of distilled water from a dehumidifier after using wetting agent and this helps but is not perfect so I just clean the negs up when they're dry with a damp cotton bud & chamois.

 

[BetterSense]

Try paper towels, folded over and wrapped around the film. It seriously works.

 

[shotgun1a]

I can tell you what NOT to wipe your negatives with: The Sham-Wow. You'll be saying "Sham-Dammit". Or worse. Little blue fibers everywhere....

 

[Jeff Kubach]

I used to use a sqeegee on my negatives till I lost it, now I just use my fingers.

Jeff

 

[BobNewYork]

Donkey's years back I bought a couple of those "photographic" sponges from a mail order place. I've used them ever since on roll film. Soaked and squeezed out, they're kept in a ziploc bag and taken out only when I hang the film. If I do more than one run the sponges go back in the ziploc until needed. I'll regularly run them in the washing machine, (by themselves) and give it an additional rinse cycle. Never had any scratching problems - although I have only ever printed with colour heads. If I were using condenser heads I may be silent on the matter!! For 4x5, I hang them by the corners and leave them - every so often I'll dab off the droplet on the lower corner.

BetterSense has a good idea - but you gotta use "Bounty" - very adsorbent and no lint.

Bob H

 

[fotch]

Try paper towels, folded over and wrapped around the film. It seriously works.

I would think that paper towels are made from wood fibers and subject the negatives to scratches.

 

[Anscojohn]

Ditto to what Vaughn said (for roll film only).

Yup. Rolls film. Wetting agent. Fingers wet in the tank of wetting agent, for no particular reason. Negs dry clean; without scratches.

 

[Ektagraphic]

Photo-Flo does it for me.