I am not smog bound in Southern California. After we tighten the smog regulations on cars and changed to the summer blend, the smog moved much further east.
Well, if what you say is true, I would welcome someone from say smog bound California trying my method and reporting back.
Or even better, some place that is really dry and dusty.
There are lots of other variables. For me, in my environment, adding a surfactant to tap water works great. If I try some sort of specialized water, without surfactant, I get less desirable results.
If you are adding surfactant to tap water, are you not still getting calcium and other deposits from the tap water? If others do this, I rest my case.
I am not smog bound in Southern California. After we tighten the smog regulations on cars and changed to the summer blend, the smog moved much further east.
Surfactants prevent the calcium from sticking to the film.
My water is very hard and has lots of calcium.
Not with our soft and excellent quality tap water.If you are adding surfactant to tap water, are you not still getting calcium and other deposits from the tap water? .
Photoflo is a standard laboratory detergent called Triton X-100. It was not developed, I think, as Photoflo. I use it all the time in the lab to help dissolve biological specimens.Perhaps photochemical manufacturers invested money in developing surfactants to make a profit? How can de-ionized water, even if pooled leave a stain?
So what we need are reports from those who only use distilled water as the final rinse and no photoflo, ilfotol or other wetting agent.Photoflo is a standard laboratory detergent called Triton X-100. It was not developed, I think, as Photoflo. I use it all the time in the lab to help dissolve biological specimens.
De-ionised water could leave a film (I do not know if it does), as it has had certain ions removed, but is not distilled. Distilled water should leave no film - I have my doubts sometimes, however, whether it is truly distilled or not.
Then you should use de-ionised water after wash and ditch the photoflo.
So what we need are reports from those who only use distilled water as the final rinse and no photoflo, ilfotol or other wetting agent.
Calling all users of distilled water only. This may kill the entertaining debate between cliveh and Sirius but there comes a point when a risk has to be taken
pentaxuser
Thank you. I live in Kent which has very hard water. I shall try Ilford at full strength first.Thanks Mark. So we have at least one user whose distilled water does the job without any wetting agent. Robert, the OP lives in the U.K. where distilled water is obtainable but not particularly cheap- at least I have never found it to be cheap in my searches .
He doesn't say where he lives in the U.K. Our tap water varies immensely in softness. Some areas if not all areas in Scotland, for instance, have very soft and pure water and may be OK without wetting agent or distilled water .
I live in a particularly hard water area . My kettle need descaling regularly but I find that the level of wetting agent recommended by the likes of Ilford works fine for me using tap water so if it were me I'd try the wetting agent, in this case, Ilfotol, at the recommended level before trying distilled water, given its price
pentaxuser
I currently use de-ionised but I have seen some particulate coming from the bottle! I have a supplier of RO water so will try that.De-ionised water is readily available and cheap from most large supermarkets. It is used to fill irons.
I don't know the answer to this question, but I'll muse upon it.
Does the surface tension of various types of untreated water differ between types of water, and/or with location or other conditions?
Could it differ due to differences in film?
I've browsed the majority of posts on this thread.
During my photographic life, I have lived in Kent, East London and now Essex. I too have had water stains on SOME strips of negatives over the years.
Whilst in London, I bought a middle priced photographic water filter. which stopped any 'stains' appearing, but a main part broke and I then started to use bottles of 'de-ionised water', bought from the local garage. I used it as my final wash with just a drip or two of photo-flo added to it. Again no stains.
I had a disabling accident just before moving to Essex and for a while continued to use bought water, when able to buy some. Then, after reading another thread about this issue, it was recommended to use a home water filter. I have and use a Brita system. Using tap water filtered through this, in the last two washes, provides me with clean negatives, comparable to buying and using the shop bought water!
If you have a home water filter, try it. If not, at least think about it, as various systems can be bought relatively cheaply. Others have mentioned using the water collected by home 'dehumidifiers', with great success, so worth a try if you already have one.
Terry S
@cliveh,
Do you squeegee your film? If so, then that's likely the reason you have no problems. The problems arise when the emulsion dries at different rates; areas with droplets dry later than the rest of the film. This can introduce stress in the emulsion and leave marks around the edges of the interface.
@Robert Canis
Mix your wetting agent with distilled water. Soak the film in it for several minutes before hanging to dry. This will help dissolved minerals to leach out into the solution and out of the emulsion. Mix the solution at recommended dilution or a bit weaker. If you see droplets, your solution is too weak. Use this solution one batch; don't save it for processing days later as it grows bacterial slime.
With 120 film, I recommend squeegeeing between two fingers (clean and smooth fingers, of course) before hanging the film to dry. If you don't want to squeegee, make sure the liquid is sheeting completely and no droplets are on the film.
Best
Doremus
I would never use a squeegee on film. Just leave to dry in ambient temperature over 24 hours.
@cliveh,
Do you squeegee your film? If so, then that's likely the reason you have no problems. The problems arise when the emulsion dries at different rates; areas with droplets dry later than the rest of the film. This can introduce stress in the emulsion and leave marks around the edges of the interface.
@Robert Canis
Mix your wetting agent with distilled water. Soak the film in it for several minutes before hanging to dry. This will help dissolved minerals to leach out into the solution and out of the emulsion. Mix the solution at recommended dilution or a bit weaker. If you see droplets, your solution is too weak. Use this solution one batch; don't save it for processing days later as it grows bacterial slime.
With 120 film, I recommend squeegeeing between two fingers (clean and smooth fingers, of course) before hanging the film to dry. If you don't want to squeegee, make sure the liquid is sheeting completely and no droplets are on the film.
Best
Doremus
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