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Water Evaporation Spots on Film

GLS said:
Wouldn't this put weird stresses on the film though and encourage it to curl etc whilst drying?
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No.
There is just enough tension to keep it from sagging.
And the modern film we use is designed to be able to withstand a lot more than this - particularly in commercial processors and high speed motor drives.
The old Kodachrome machines ran three miles of spliced together films through the machines at continuous high speed.
And current motion picture film processors do the same with Vision films and 5222 black and white film, which is extremely similar to still films on acetate base. The Estar based films are even more robust.
 
MattKing said:
Nope - 45 degrees works great with roll film - top attached to a clip near the top right of the shower stall, and bottom attached to a clip nearer to the left side of the shower stall
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Would it work in the right side of the shower stall or only on the left?
 

Okay, I know you guys aren't pouring perfectly good beer into your film wash... What is IPA?

Thanks,
D.
 
Isopropyl alcohol. Just a good splash in my final rinse water. Helps avoid having to do gymnastics hanging rolls of film at odd angles in the shower
 
Sirius Glass said:
Would it work in the right side of the shower stall or only on the left?
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Depends on where I've strung the line that the top hooks on to .
 

OK, good to know, thanks.

The IPA + deionised water method obviates the need to do this however, as it completely eliminates any possibility of residues from minerals or traditional wetting agents (Photo-Flo etc).
 

Not all wetting agents work equally with our individual domestic water supplies. So try another brand of wetting agent. Moving into a new home I had terrible problems with Fotospeed wetting agent and tried every idea to solve the problem with no effect. Only when the bottle was getting low did I buy Ilford's Ilfosol wetting agent and instantly the problems were gone.
 

Ditto! Long ago I discovered that squeegees were a risky choice.
 
I use tissues impregnated with IPA. The sort of things used in hospital or nail bars. They are available on eBay. Different sizes to suit your film type.
 
As everyone has said, you're likely making your photo flo too weak, so make sure you're following the instructions
.
If your city/tap water is really hard, you might want to try investing in a water filter or using DI water for a rinse. Personally I just have a carbon filter attached to my sink that I change out once a year or so.

I'm also a squeegee user, despite how it makes people gasp. I've only ever had issues with it on expired soviet film and some experimental emulsions, everything else seems to be hard enough that it won't scratch.
 
Thanks everyone! I mixed it up at the recommended rate problem solved! Amazing what following the directions does!
 
I do a final rinse with distilled water. Never had a problem.


Kent in SD
 
I use filtered water (charcoal filter) as well as photo-flo and I still get these pesky residue on my film.
Only solution that works for me, is to toss the reel(s) into a salad-tosser and centrifuge the water off as much as humanly possible before hanging the film up to dry.
I avoid touching wet film at all costs, apart from the Kodak Vision-films, to take off the anti-halation backing (very soft, very wet paper).
 
Regarding the use of a squeegee. Does anyone know why it's not recommended? I have been using the Paterson squeegee and have not noticed any problems..
 
QuisAmet said:
Regarding the use of a squeegee. Does anyone know why it's not recommended? I have been using the Paterson squeegee and have not noticed any problems..
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It is not recommended because if you trap something between the squeegee and the emulsion-side, you risk creating a irreparable streak all along the film/frames.
I did it a couple of times in the beginning, but stopped, once I saw my scans (may be less critical, perhaps, in an enlarging-context?)
 
QuisAmet said:
Regarding the use of a squeegee. Does anyone know why it's not recommended? I have been using the Paterson squeegee and have not noticed any problems..
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Just run a search on "squeegee" in Photrio and you can read (Ad Nauseum) the arguments for and against using the device.

Just the term usually causes a thread to blow-up and run for endless pages pro and con.
 
FWIW, this is the method that I settled on that eliminated drying marks/streaks on my film:

After washing using The Ilford Method with plain tap water, I remove the film reel (Jobo 1500 series) from the developing tank and immerse it in 32 oz of distilled water for 5 minutes. I then remove the reel and add 2 drops of LFN to the distilled water and mix thoroughly. Then I open the reel and dump the film roll into the LFN/water mixture and agitate for 1 minute. Finally, I remove the film roll, hang from film clips and use 4 Kimwipes (2 per side) to gently "squeegee" the water off both sides of the film. The film is then left to dry for about 24 hours.

The process is a bit involved but I'm left with no drying marks and it has never scratched my film.

I got the idea for the 5 minute soak in distilled water from an old post by @Doremus Scudder and the suggestion to squeegee with Kimwipes came from a post by @Huss, so credit to them for sharing their ideas.
 
Helinophoto said:
I use filtered water (charcoal filter) as well as photo-flo and I still get these pesky residue on my film.
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Not surprising, as a charcoal filter will not remove most dissolved minerals.
 
Helinophoto said:
Really? What to use then?
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Distilled water soak for the final rinse, along with your wetting agent. Leave the film soaking for a while. If your water is really hard, it can take five minutes or so to leach enough of the minerals out of the emulsion so you don't get residue. You can try shorter times if your water isn't that hard. Soak longer if you get residue.

Don't store wetting agent for more than a day or so; it grows bacterial slime rather quickly. I use it one session.

Best,

Doremus
 
mtlc said:
Thanks everyone! I mixed it up at the recommended rate problem solved! Amazing what following the directions does!
Click to expand...

One of the gratifying things about participating in Photrio is to see problems being solved for people who need help and advice. So that thanks also goes to you for providing feedback.
 
Helinophoto said:
Really? What to use then?
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Find out if your water is "hard or soft".

You may need to "condition" your water.

Use at least a three (3) part filtration system, starting with five (5) micron particles to remove the big stuff and two (2) or three(3) microns for particles for a clean up of debris and larger nasties.

Include an activated Charcoal filter for its benifit, but you can also take it a bit further and use a quality ceramic filter, thoroughly embedded with silver to kill some things that get through.

The charcoal and silver do not remove needed for portable water, salts from the water and there is no guarantee you'll stop everything, however, if you want to distill your own water, the water cleansed water at this point should be pretty clean, and salts will, like some remaining minerals, be separated out of the distilled water.

You 'might' need to add a smidge of salt back in, as, if you were able to perfectly distill water, the pure stuff is very corrosive, or so I've read, but I doubt you'll get that to final corrosive point.

I believe that photo flow is also a water conditioner, but the chemist here should give the final word on that.

Good luck and don't forget to use distilled water ice cubes to lower the final rinse temperature.
 

+100

I let it soak for a bit longer (about a minute) so that all the tap water gets washed out of the emulsion too.

I'm surprised how this is still a topic, it's such a simple solution that only has benefits and no downsides. very cheap too (I reuse the deionized a few times before dumping)
 
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