Washing Film - Again?

[Francesco]

How would you clean smudges, fingermarks, etc. off from sheet film that was processed over a year ago? Does simply leaving them in water for 30 mins, 1 hour, etc. render them spotless once more? Would you use wetting agent (once again) right after the wash to help in the drying? Many thanks for any suggestions and recommendations.

Francesco (www.cicoli.com)

 

[david b]

Assuming you are talking about B&W film, I would use distilled water for about 10 minutes or so and then I would put them back into Photoflo or the like for about 1 minute.

 

[glbeas]

I would think oily fingerprints and smudges would not rinse off in distilled water. I have solvent based film cleaner for that, then any water soluble spots can be rinsed off in distilled. No wetting agent should be needed if you are using distilled to rinse with.

 

[fschifano]

Fingerprints and smudges are oily and will require some sort of solvent to remove them. There is a product named PEC-12 which should do the trick, but it is expensive. Isopropyl alcohol should be effective, but you'd need to try this out on something unimportant to get your technique perfected. In any case, I would give the film a good soaking in clear water followed by a dip in wetting agent before drying. Distilled water is not necessary provided your water supply is clean, and I'd still use a wetting agent.

 

[Bruce Osgood]

Isopropyl alcohol - straight. Soft cloth not a cotton ball that will fragment. Gently wipe both sides of the neg. Blow dry and stick it in the enlarger.

 

[bmac]

I'll second the suggestion for Pec 12, the stuff is awesome.

 

[Francesco]

Where does one go to get PEC-12? Is that a generic name or brand name? What is the procedure - PEC12 for ? minutes, then water rinse, then wetting agent, etc..? Thanks.