BW film developing - drying marks

[colinh]

OK, without having read all the other "here's what I do" posts, here's mine:

1. Throw the squeegee away.
2. After all the rinsing I make up 300 ml of distilled/de-ionised water with about 1 ml of Ilfotol (wetting agent).
3. Wash the film in this for a minute or so.
4. Pour it back into the beaker it came from
5. Hang up the film (don't touch it with anything).
6. With a 20 ml syringe (no needle) apply a gentle jet to the top of one side of the film and progress downwards at a reasonable rate. Repeat 2 or 3 times until arrive at the bottom.
7. Repeat other side.
8. Leave room

This is in my cellar where the washing machine is, it's tiled and there's a runoff in the floor. 100 ml of the solution on the floor is not a problem.

Advantages: No scratching whatsoever. No calcium carbonate (scale) spots.

Some people hang their film in special film hangers, or in the bathroom where a hot shower has been run. The steam gets rids of the dust. Whatever.

colin

[350D_user]

Fairy liquid is better than nothing. Not a squirt though, a drop or two should be sufficient. Hang the film up to dry for a couple of hours, no scratch marks whatsoever.

[350D_user]

Originally Posted by colinh

Some people hang their film in special film hangers, or in the bathroom where a hot shower has been run. The steam gets rids of the dust. Whatever.

Bulldog clips get my vote. One at either end. After all, the ends get chopped off anyway, don't they?

[robbiechad]

Final rinse with one drop fairy liquid, the sqeegee just one pass hang up with plenty of space, keep the cat away, no problems!!

[Never Satisfied]

Hello, just to add my $0.05 to the mix, dishwashing liquid and wetting agent are the same thing, one or the other is fine. Although a more expensive solution, I found the single biggest improvement for removing drying marks was to use a drying cabinet. Mine is home made from an old clothing locker with a cheap fan heater jammed in the top. It force drys the film from the top down. If you use weighted clips and don't let you film dry covered in bubbles from the wetting agent you should be on the way to mark free negs. If your getting white marks caused by mineral deposits, install a filter on the tap you use for processing; it will make you drinking water better as well
Cheers Andrew.

[FrankS]

Distilled water + wetting agent for final wash minute.

[WEH]

Here is a foolproof method for drying 120 or 135 B&W roll film without leaving watermarks, scratches or streaks. It’s a bit labor intensive but will be worth the effort.

The procedure is to wipe down both sides of your roll film simultaneously while it hangs from a film clip using two damp water-absorbing cloths each folded into the shape of a sponge. The cloths will remove any water drops, which could contain mineral deposits. The cloths will even pull the water out of the sprocket holes in 35mm film. This procedure works well if you use a hardener in your film fixer and do not use a wetting agent,

There was a time when you could buy “photo grade” sponges for this purpose but I haven’t seen any for 20 years or more. Photo Wipes work well, but they become expensive if you are processing 30 to 40 rolls a week.

I have found by trial and error that the best material to use to create your own film-wiping pads is the smooth surfaced synthetic chamois or Microfiber automobile wiping/drying cloths found in automotive stores. They are thicker, softer and more water absorbing than natural chamois and they contain no oily residue since they are man-made. Most auto part stores sell these cloths. In the US, Pep Boys Auto Supply stores always have them.

A pair of these cloths/pads will last for years if properly cared for.

Email me for painfully detailed how-to-do-it information, as my explanation is too long for a forum post.

Walter Holt

[FrankS]

With my last batch of film, I used distilled water with Photofo as the final 1 minute wash step, and I got NO mineral deposits, which until now were the bain of my existance (photographically speaking.)

[irq506]

Its a good idea to use some kind of hypo clearing agent as this helps remove the slimy residue on film after fixing that even a decent wash can sometime not even remove. After fixing, wash for two minutes and then hypo for another two and then wash for about 6-8 minutes. When removing the film from the reel, take the roll in both hands like as though you were about to examine the negs, and put one hand over your head and the other below whist holding the roll out, and tap your finger on the high side, this helps to create a drain so that the drops will flow down one side of the strip.
I keep a 1:4 solution of LFN or photo flow in a 1L bottle which I put my squeegee into before I start developing in the first place, so that its wet and soaked in wetting agent. Use it this way and you will end up having -at worst small beads of moisture between the sproket holes and thats it. Ive been doing it this way for 20+ years in all kinds of darkrooms and anyone Ive shown it to have all been impressed. Try it see how you like it!

[FrankS]

irq506, you've never developed Kodak high speed infra-red film, have you? The emulsion is so soft, even a slippery/gentle fingers squeegee scratches it. A rubber sqeegee would just about strip all the emulsion from the film base. On important negs, even with regular film, I would never trust a rubber squeegee. Of course, YMMV.

[palec]

I'm in hard water area and I'm trying to avoid long washing in tap water which seems to be the problem. Last two baths are in destilled water, first in recycled distilled water (I replace it once a while) and second with wetting agent. I've tried Foma, Ilford and Tetenal wetting agents and I like the last one the most, it's antistatic, antibacterial and does not smell that bad like Ilfotol.

[Haigh]

Originally Posted by berci

Hi Everyone out there,

I develop my own bw pictures, in my small tank kitchen sink type photo lab, everything is fine apart from the occasional drying marks on the negative. I even use a photo flo like thing (Jessops wetting agent) but that does not help either.

The most annoying thing is that sometimes it's ok, sometimes not.

Any idea?

Many thanks and happy shooting,

Berci

I agree with the post that said to use distilled water for a rinse and with a few drops of wetting agent. Adelaide water is so high in mineral content that I've had to do this from the time I started developing my own work.

Best wishes,

Gary Haigh

[Keith]

I've changed my opinion on film drying. I was using a rinsing additive and hanging to dry but still finding the odd mark in my scans. I tried a genuine leather chamois which was a disaster ... the sharp edges of the sprocket holes was peeling bits off the chamois and leaving particles all over the film. I switched to one of those synthetic type chamois and have discovered it does a perfect job and can be kept wet in the container unlike the hide variety which have to be dried between uses. After hanging the negative with one of those stainles clips that pierces the neg so it won't slip I can put gentle even pressure on both sides of the film and pull the chamois down to the bottom. With virtually all traces of surface moisture gone the film dries very quickly and I've looked carefully at the negs and can see no streaks scratches or damage from this method. It also means that because the surface of the film is almost dry it doesn't catch dust particles if I hang it in a well ventilated spot. I realise that some film emulsions are supposedly very soft but I've had no trouble so far!

[ChrisN]

Keith, when I tried that I got marks and scratches too! Perhaps I should have tried a new chamois, not the one I clean the car with!

I did my last couple of rolls with a little wetting agent in the final rinse with filtered water, and after I put the clips on the film, dunked it through the rise water again just before I hung the film, so the rinse water was running off it as I hung it up. Perfect results - no scratches or water marks!

[Keith]

Originally Posted by ChrisN

Keith, when I tried that I got marks and scratches too! Perhaps I should have tried a new chamois, not the one I clean the car with!

I did my last couple of rolls with a little wetting agent in the final rinse with filtered water, and after I put the clips on the film, dunked it through the rise water again just before I hung the film, so the rinse water was running off it as I hung it up. Perfect results - no scratches or water marks!

Because I'm a little new to developing waiting for a film to dry so I can scan it is torture. I've discovered that after the film has been chamoid (fancy using the car chamois ) if I hang it in a breezy doorway it's dry in under an hour.

By the way my Combi Plan will be here next week ... I was hoping for this week but no luck! The Crown Graphic is sitting on my tripod in the loungeroom where I have to walk past it constantly and the film holders are cleaned and ready to load!

[ChrisN]

Now your talking! You need to start another thread on this - what will you load them with?

[Keith]

Originally Posted by ChrisN

Now your talking! You need to start another thread on this - what will you load them with?

I have a choice of TRI-X 320 or HP5!

Both ideal for street photography of course.

[zhengpeng]

It doesn't make much sense if you shoot B&W film but don't develop it by yourself.

[John Robertson]

Last wash, wetting agent and water from a filter jug.
Started to do this when I was in an area of the Highlands of Scotland where the tap water was the colour of weak tea due to the peat soil!! (Tea made with it tasted just fine!!)
Used non fizzy non flavoured bottled water to make up developer and fixer. (Highland Spring!)

[DanP]

I started doing my own developing and I am not looking back...it's a fun and rewarding experience.

[slantface]

I live in Denver, CO, and the tap water tends to be a bit hard with minerals. I now wash all film with some distilled water. It helps enormously.

[f16sunshine]

Doing a final rinse with distilled water and a tiny touch of fotoflo does the trick. Like Slantface I also lived in CO. The water in Boulder was hard and had high dissolved particle levels during times of the year.

[dmc]

Wow. lots of great ideas. Just for the record, I wash my film in tap water, add a couple drops of Photo flo right at the end, let it soak for a few minutes, take out the film, wet my fingers with the photo flo solution, run them down the film and let dry. 45 years now and never a streak or a mark. I must be very lucky.

[agour]

My tap water is also very bad for rinsing in, always leaves marks on the film.

I started buying the big 5l bottles of water from the supermarket. For £1 I can rinse 5 35mm films, so its definately worth the price

[whitecat]

I use a brand new kitchen sponge.....wet and rung dry. After the rinse I run the film through my pointing finger and my social finger quickly. This takes a lot of the water off. I then fold the sponge in half and run the film through there only once. Never get streaks with this method.