[BigDave]

Luc, in my case, 7 cats + 2 dogs = no amount of pre-scanning washing or drying equipment will help me Just a lot of dedicated dusting and spotting.

That said, I do get some variability in whether or not I end up with water stains. (And I do dry the film hanging in an old tub where no animals ever get to go.)

Hi All:

If you are getting water spots, try using Photo-Flo (Kodak) or other similar product, AKA, wetting agent. It is best to hang dry your negs then, but squeegee them first (I use my fingers, dipped in the wetting agent and it works GREAT! Just don't have a hang nail on the squeegee fingers to cause a scratch). You just need about 10 drops of the stuff in the developing tank wash water, right at the end. Agitate for about 30 seconds and bingo! Water spots are not a problem!

[goddo31]

Hi All:

If you are getting water spots, try using Photo-Flo (Kodak) or other similar product, AKA, wetting agent. It is best to hang dry your negs then, but squeegee them first (I use my fingers, dipped in the wetting agent and it works GREAT! Just don't have a hang nail on the squeegee fingers to cause a scratch). You just need about 10 drops of the stuff in the developing tank wash water, right at the end. Agitate for about 30 seconds and bingo! Water spots are not a problem!

I am very inexperienced in this stuff so far - but did exactly that on my second roll ever just a few days ago. I also hung it out vertically and used a spare film hanger clip at the bottom to add just a little weight. I was amazed by how clean and flat the negs came out. The only real dust was from the scanner area.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I used distilled water in the rinse with Photoflo.

[stevebrot]

EDIT: Oh yeah, I used distilled water in the rinse with Photoflo.

I found that I had to do that too. The tap water tends to form sort of a scum at times.


Steve

[icywarm]

I wouldn't live without my photoflo... I hang my film all night so it is very dry and nothing gets into the film well it dries... I pull my film off my hanging rack... move about 2 feet and scan it... it touches nothing... it seems to work well... maybe one hair in 2 or 3 frames...

[GeneV]

Luc is on the right track. I've found that I do a good job of dusting the negatives in glassless carriers. (Glass for MF is another story entirely) Most of my dust issues in 135 are in drying the film.

I use demineralized water in the Photoflo, which helps with the spots. I dry my negatives in an unused shower. In the bone-dry NM air, the drying goes very quickly even without heat. However, I absolutely have to wipe that shower down, removing all the NM dust, before I use it. I recently skipped that step and was sooooo sorry.

[Vertex Ninja]

I found that I had to do that too. The tap water tends to form sort of a scum at times.
Steve

I use distilled water for every step except for the wash, I use softened water for that. I then use distilled water again for the final rinse. Some developers seem to be more sensitive to water impurities and PH. Sometimes I question if it's erally worth it, but in the end decide that it at least keeps things consistent. Who knows what is coming out of that tap from month to month.

...
I use demineralized water in the Photoflo, which helps with the spots. I dry my negatives in an unused shower. In the bone-dry NM air, the drying goes very quickly even without heat. However, I absolutely have to wipe that shower down, removing all the NM dust, before I use it. I recently skipped that step and was sooooo sorry.

Have you tried running hot water in the shower for about 5min before you hang the film to dry? Makes a huge difference in my pet filled house, but then Indiana tends to be a pretty humid place too.

[GeneV]

Have you tried running hot water in the shower for about 5min before you hang the film to dry? Makes a huge difference in my pet filled house, but then Indiana tends to be a pretty humid place too.

That would normally be easier than wiping it down, but things get complicated if I actually run water in this shower, which is in a bath that guests use. Our water is so hard that I would have to squeegee the glass and walls of the shower to keep it from looking dull. I use demineralized water as much as possible in the processing to avoid the minerals in our water.

[Vertex Ninja]

That would normally be easier than wiping it down, but things get complicated if I actually run water in this shower, which is in a bath that guests use. Our water is so hard that I would have to squeegee the glass and walls of the shower to keep it from looking dull. I use demineralized water as much as possible in the processing to avoid the minerals in our water.

That's a bummer! Maybe, you could try running a humidifier for a bit to make the dust settle. Hot water in the sink might work too? Anything that can make some steam.

[Lowell Goudge]

That's a bummer! Maybe, you could try running a humidifier for a bit to make the dust settle. Hot water in the sink might work too? Anything that can make some steam.

be careful about humidifiers. use an evaporative, not ultrasonic humidifier. ultrasonic ones lead to parcipitation of very fins powder, because ultrasonic humidifiers create microscopic droplets not water vapor.

Better would be an electrostatic dust parcipitator, not a humidifier.

[stevebrot]

be careful about humidifiers. use an evaporative, not ultrasonic humidifier. ultrasonic ones lead to parcipitation of very fins powder, because ultrasonic humidifiers create microscopic droplets not water vapor.

Better would be an electrostatic dust parcipitator, not a humidifier.

Good point Lowell. I had one of the ultrasonic ones for awhile and after several days of use, the area around the device was covered with a fine powder!


Steve

[eddie1960]

Two words.

Compressed air.


ICE won't work.

+1 for this

[eddie1960]

I have a multi prong approach that comprises most of the above
the day before processing I clean heavily in the bathroom and my office (right next to the bathroom) then i run an air purifier for 24 hours with the door shut to deal with the larger issues
Run the hot shower for the steam to remove dust just before beginning processing,
before hanging to dry I final rinse with distilled and photo flo
hang the film overnight
scan the next day in the office which is where the air purifier went next (and usually is to deal with the pet cats.
I do like that on reel drying sytem above i may have to try that looks good
REally though i hate the scanning process enough that lately I've just sleeved them uncut and take to a lab around the corner who do a great job and turn it around faster than i can (and the price of the nikon 9000 pays for an awful lot of scans

[Lowell Goudge]

as a general comment to all of this, I find it curious that there sia struggle with dust.

Maybe I was just lucky, but when I first moved in to my house, there was this 6 x 9 foot closet built into the laundry that was not useful for anything other than a darkroom.

It had only one door, had one light switched internally, and was completely sealed. I painted it all white, and once totally set up, I never had an issue with dust, even settling on the counter top over time. having a sealed room really helped, and I only now appreciate that. Too bad I took it apart when I went digital Haven't processed a roll of film in 10 years now

[eddie1960]

as a general comment to all of this, I find it curious that there sia struggle with dust.

Maybe I was just lucky, but when I first moved in to my house, there was this 6 x 9 foot closet built into the laundry that was not useful for anything other than a darkroom.

It had only one door, had one light switched internally, and was completely sealed. I painted it all white, and once totally set up, I never had an issue with dust, even settling on the counter top over time. having a sealed room really helped, and I only now appreciate that. Too bad I took it apart when I went digital Haven't processed a roll of film in 10 years now

I'm planning on building one in my basement, but my basement is an absolute dust nightmare, bloody old houses and cats (litter box is the big culprit i think they dig for hours)

[GeneV]

We get less than 10 inches of precipitation per year, so our dust issues are off the charts. Nevertheless, if I take the time to wash the drying area down carefully, I do pretty well.

For those who dry on reels, how is the flatness of the negative?