Sticky negatives, damaged emulsion? Pic inside

After 2 hours of drying, for the first time my negatives came out sticky. So sticky they wouldn't even go into the archive sleeve, so I tried to dry these negatives with some paper towels (just a test roll so I wiped pretty aggressively which didn't help much besides scratch the picture). However, after scanning I notice a giant blob of damage in the middle of the picture (only this frame out of 10), does anyone have any idea why or how this happened?

Film is handle by edges only.

You need to let it dry bone dry wait 12 hours unless you live in Death Valley or use stop press techniques.

-) density variation due to uneven drying

-) fibers stuck to emulsion


When drying, at least the emulsion side must only be covered with a even film of water and the emulsion side must not be in near distance to obstacles, hampering the drying process.

Two hours of drying? If you live in a humid climate (or it's unseasonably humid for some reason) your film will not be remotely dry.

Patience, Grasshopper, patience!

The rest of the problems are probably due to your handling the negatives before they were dry; lint from the paper towels, emulsion damage from trying to slide a wet negative into a sleeve...

FWIW, I don't think I've ever had negatives dry in two hours.

Doremus

My negatives dry in about an hour in Florida humidity. The trick is to smartly whip the film strip like a snake or whip a few times to throw off excess water. Hang to dry, avoid touching no matter how interesting a frame might look, and in an hour or so, there you go.

That blob is probably the result of sticking the neg into the sleeve while it was still damp.

i have never really timed how long it takes my film to dry in summer humidity
but it is probably a little more than 2 hours, although i use photo flo
and sometimes dip my index+middle fingers in the photoflo after i stick the top of my film
in the clothes pin, and i drag my finger down ( finger squeegee ) ...
the bottom of the film is all the unused film i roll up in a clump
and after about an hour or 2 if i am antsy i take scizzors and clip the bottom
where the water accumulates ..
usually the film looks sort of weirdly half buckled and i know it isn't dry through and through ..
soon after it is bone dry ... i run clean dry palms down the front and back and make sure there isn't a "tug"
which is moisture on the film ... sheet film gets hung by a corner ( all sizes like rc prints and small paper negatives if i hang them on a line to dry and not
on a screen ) and i can always tell if the film is dry when there isn't a droplet of water on the bottom corner of the film ... and if there is a droplet,
i pinch it and remove it with my thumb and index finger ... usually the film drys in a few hours if on a line, and around the same amount of time
in a plastic shelving unit ( suncast plastic ) with no shelves but framers wire strung across in rows of 3 .. and the door closed ...
again film is inspected to see if moist by palms of hands .. if its dry i grab it, if it isn't i let them be ...
no point in rushing into grabbing wet negatives, nothing good ever comes of it, unless you are a press photographer from days gone by
and you just finished stand developing for 2-3 mins in straight dektol and need to get the image printd and to the photo desk ...
i've printed wet negatives before, the bulb sometimes makes weird prints when the film is partially dry ... YMMV

Its dried when its dry, 100% dry. Wait longer.

Two hours is not enough drying time. I usually wait over night or 24 hours.

A trick I've heard of but never tried is to use an alcohol bath after the wash. The alcohol mixes with the water and the combo evaporates more rapidly. BUT, most rubbing alcohol contains oils, scents etc which wouldn't help the film, and denatured alcohol contains methanol, which is dangerous. Better as others have said to hang the film in a dry place, and leave it alone overnight or longer.

GRHazelton said:

A trick I've heard of but never tried is to use an alcohol bath after the wash. The alcohol mixes with the water and the combo evaporates more rapidly. BUT, most rubbing alcohol contains oils, scents etc which wouldn't help the film, and denatured alcohol contains methanol, which is dangerous. Better as others have said to hang the film in a dry place, and leave it alone overnight or longer.

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Better than that, use PhotoFlo or an equivalent and allow the proper time to dry.

moodlover said:

I tried to dry these negatives with some paper towels

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Reading those words had a similar effect on me to scratching fingernails on a blackboard!

moodlover said:

So sticky they wouldn't even go into the archive sleeve, so I tried to dry these negatives with some paper towels (just a test roll so I wiped pretty aggressively which didn't help much besides scratch the picture).

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Have you considered using sand paper instead?

Why not just hold them over an open flame to dry.

But back to basics even with soft pair of clean gloves you can only handle by edges or rebates.
You need to inspect for tacky in any clear leader or trailer before cutting down.

My film takes 12 hours to dry in high relative humidity @15C.

I don't live in Death Valley.

a blow dryer has drier has dried my film in a pickle
some use them together with a garment bag and make
a negative dryer ..
if the OP is in a pickle to dry his film faster than naturally
he/she might look into building a drying cabinet that
uses a heat source

Maybe stick them in the microwave for, oh say, ah... 10 minutes ought to do it.

Rick A said:

Maybe stick them in the microwave for, oh say, ah... 10 minutes ought to do it.

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that's what ansel adams did ( with his prints )
microwaved them to get them dry ...
i have a blow dryer next to my enlarger so i can SEE dry down ...
and dry hand coated paper and plates if needed ... i don't like microwaves.

Change to a different batch of film. If the new/different batch rectifies the problem, then try to repeat/recreate the problem with the old batch. If the problem goes away with the new batch. and the problem can be repeated with the old batch, that's a good point to start your troubleshooting. I've never had sticky film, and never had to dry film more the two hours, even on the most of humid days. I've seen bad batches of "supposedly new film" on a number of occasions. So, sticky film . . . I'm not at all surprised.

I use a blow dryer for my prints too. However, negatives need several hours to properly dry. Even if they "feel" dry to the touch, the emulsion hasn't had time to properly harden and can be damaged. No need for heated drying, but a stream of filtered air moving across the surface will speed things up. Negatives that are properly washed, rinsed and excess water removed(I prefer shaking them while still in the reel, never squeegee) and hung to dry with weighted end to keep straight for 12 hours with roll film (my preference). I used to have a couple of film dryers, for those "rush jobs", I got rid of them, more problem than they are worth. A proper drying cabinet with a slow fan and filters, and ample space to hang several films is definitely a plus if you have space to own one.

Hmm - 60% RH and my negs dried in an hr - didn't want to leave them up overnight and get dust/ didn't want to block the bathroom overnight

GarageBoy said:

Hmm - 60% RH and my negs dried in an hr - didn't want to leave them up overnight and get dust/ didn't want to block the bathroom overnight

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Lay those negatives on a sheet of plastic, emulsion side down, or lay them emulsion sides facing each other after only one hour dry time.

If you do not have exclusive use of bath or shower cubical you can use a drain pipe and hang the film in that with a heat source under and close woven cloth at each end to keep dust out.

Bigger inner diameter for 120 than 35mm.

Non-hardening Fixer? Maybe? I have never used anything but hardening fixer with film, so I don't know what the results would be there.

Sirius Glass said:

Have you considered using sand paper instead?

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Rick A said:

Why not just hold them over an open flame to dry.

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jnanian said:

a blow dryer has drier has dried my film in a pickle
some use them together with a garment bag and make
a negative dryer ..
if the OP is in a pickle to dry his film faster than naturally
he/she might look into building a drying cabinet that
uses a heat source

Click to expand...

I use a drum print dryer for paper, but I would not put film in a microwave. Imagine if one came across some unexposed nitrate film, shot it, processed it and then dried it in a microwave oven.

What is your hurry?

I use photo-flo and don't squeegee. I hang the film with clips in a closet and wait at least four hours, sometimes overnight. A good test is to check the bottom clip for residual photo-flo. If the clip is dry, the film is certainly dry. If I have a great shot, it will still be a great shot in the morning.