Water spots on Negs

[Silverpixels5]

Well I was in a rush when developing a roll of 35mm negatives yesterday and forgot to do a final rinse in DI water with photoflo. The result...waterspots on all the negatives. Is there any way to wash the roll again to get rid of the spots, or am i basically screwed? Thanks for any help.

 

[Ronald Moravec]

They should wash off if you soak the roll for a while. I suggest you use some wet lens tissue lightly on the base side if there is a problem.

 

[reellis67]

I've had good luck re-washing. As Ronald stated, let them soak for a bit and then do the final rinse with wetting agent and you should be fine.

- Randy

 

[pentaxuser]

Same experience and success as Randy. I wouldn't worry.

pentaxuser

 

[Gerald Koch]

Since the spots are probably minerals from the water I would first place them in a stopbath and then a brief wash followed by PhotoFlo.

 

[Early Riser]

Since the spots are probably minerals from the water I would first place them in a stopbath and then a brief wash followed by PhotoFlo.

I have never heard of anyone putting negs in stop bath to wash off spots. I would think that could be hazardous to the negs as the spots are most often minerals and are usually alakli, I would think that there is a potential for the stop bath to create those tiny pinholes that can sometimes occur when stop bath contacts alakali in the emulsion and causes tiny "pops". I think the safer route would be to soak the negs in distilled water, and then proceed with normal washing and wetting agent.

 

[Jim Jones]

I wouldn't worry about the stop bath rinse. Stop bath didn't hurt the film during developing. Gerald's idea is like using vinegar to clean showers and sinks, except vinegar is stronger.

 

[Gerald Koch]

Plain water is not very good for dissolving mineral spots on negatives and prints since tapwater is already saturated with the minerals that you are trying to dissolve. A rinse in a stopbath will dissolve the spots since the minerals are soluble in acid. The spots are on the surface of the film and any gas generated easily escapes and cannot cause any harm to the emulsion such as pinholes.

BTW, the problem of pinholes caused by gas being generated in the emulsion by carbonate developers reacting with acid stop or fixer is grossly overstated. This is particularly true with today's prehardened films. In fact in over 50 years of photography I have never seen the problem. When pinholes are seen they are from a defect in film manufacture.