Sticky film problem

[Ignatius Joe]

New film photographer here. Ektar 100 came out of development all sticky. When I stored the film strips inside an envelope, they were stuck together and left imprints, as the picture shows.

What caused the sticky surface right out of development?
Can the damage seen below be repaired? Alcohol and microfiber cloth aren't removing it.

 

[cmacd123]

how long did you leave it hung up to dry?

 

[Ignatius Joe]

Hi! I am breaking a lot of rules, admittedly. I dry the film with a cloth and store them immediately (red flag, for sure). Yet, this hasn't created problems before, and rolls were never sticky straight out of development, till this latest batch.

 

[grat]

Wow. With luck like that, you should try lottery tickets. You must live in a very low humidity environment.

Hang them. Let them dry. The only "drying" I do is after I've moved the clip from one area to another, there's usually a damp spot on the edge of the film where the clip was, and I blot that with a lint free cloth.

 

[koraks]

I dry the film with a cloth and store them immediately (red flag, for sure).

Yeah, it doesn't work like that. It's a gelatin emulsion that needs time to dry. A cloth will just wipe water from the surface, it won't draw the water from the emulsion itself. Minimum drying time in my darkroom (summer, low humidity) is about an hour. Up to 3 hours under less optimal conditions. You can speed things up with a hairdryer if you don't mind dust and drying marks all over your film.

 

[Ignatius Joe]

I'm grateful for all the responses. I understand the process now, but I imagine my Fuji rolls would have encountered the same problem as my Kodak roll. I suppose there's no way to remove the sticky splotches on the surface?

 

[MattKing]

Try re-washing and then a new round of Final Rinse. And then dry it thoroughly!

 

[Ignatius Joe]

You mean, just use water? This works?

 

[koraks]

You mean, just use water? This works?

Just water followed by final rinse/wetting agent/stabilizer.
It may help a bit but likely the marks won't go away entirely. Still worth a try though.

 

[Donald Qualls]

One very important thing to remember about film: the gelatin that suspends the halide, silver, and dyes is the same as what furniture makers have used for glue for the past couple thousand years. Gelatin glue can be strong enough to pull chips off a glass sheet (that's one of the ways that textured glass is made). You're lucky all your films haven't stuck together into solid blocks.

I let mine dry overnight with the room exhaust fan running.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I leave film up for 24 hours to dry. Never had a problem.

 

[grat]

Really? I've been drying my 120 and 4x5 for about 1-2 hours in a climate-controlled 76 degree room. So far it's been working, but now you've got me paranoid. Thanks!

 

[Donald Qualls]

Really? I've been drying my 120 and 4x5 for about 1-2 hours in a climate-controlled 76 degree room. So far it's been working, but now you've got me paranoid. Thanks!

If the film is dry the time is long enough. I usually do my film late in the day, so I don't get an opportunity to see it after 1,2,3,4 hours, but just next day. I have seen my film still damp the next morning if I forgot to leave the exhaust fan running (drawing air from the rest of the house) overnight -- but so far, my darkroom has been the coldest room in the house. We'll see if that changes now that heating season is coming on.

 

[Pentode]

I've always hung my film to dry for 7 hours, minimum. I don't remember where I got such a specific number but it's always worked so I don't question it. Since I have no way of knowing whether or not the moisture within the emulsion has fully evaporated I figure it's better to just play it safe. So far, so good.