therwol Loc: USA

Now that I've retired and have some time on my hands, I'm scanning all of my old negatives from around 1969 into the early 80s. When these were first developed (by me), any contamination I found after drying would come off with a brush or in some cases a little nudge with a Q-tip and alcohol. After all of these years, any contamination I'm seeing seems to be glued to the negatives on both sides. Dry cleaning methods no longer budge the stuff. I've tried solvent based cleaners. I've tried distilled water/Photo-Flo and PEC pads to wipe before drying. The best I can do is get about half of the stuff off before I become fearful of damaging the negatives.

Any ideas? Also what about dunking the negative strips in an ultrasonic cleaner and with what solution?

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

Dik

NO! NO! NO!
The first thing that idiot does is pick up the negative with his fingers in the image area. He's wearing a glove so he won't feel the grit that he's pushing into the emulsion.
Then he takes a dry cloth and scratches both sides of the film at the same time, using whatever abrasive filth happens to be on the film, and cloth.
He then says that if that doesn't work, and picks up a bottle of liquid cleaner...
Could not watch any more of this atrocity.
It made my want to sandpaper his eyeballs!

wishaw

Scan them and clean up in post processing

Dik

B&W film can be safely washed in clean (filtered) water and dried in a dust free location.
If I had an ultrasonic cleaner I would defiantly try it.

Next time I need to deal with a piece of film, I'm going to test an old dirty negative first using a piece of lint roller material. I will sandwich the film in a folded piece, sticky side to film, and then peel it off. If I can't manage to peel off any of the emulsion (image), and if it leaves no residue...

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Use Anti Static negative cleaner. It's not expensive and it works great.

Just flush the neg with it to get loose stuff off and then wipe with pec pads and the cleaner.

https://www.adorama.com/cheas4.html

DIRTY HARRY Loc: Hartland, Michigan

What about color negs?

Dik

The problem is that any method that involves wiping across the film, is liable to drag dislodged abrasives across the film, adding scratches.

I think Scotch Tape (no residue type) might work too.

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

Sure, that’s a YouTube. You’ll have to scroll down for the legitimate links.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

You will also deposit some adhesive on the film. I would not do this. I would try the ultrasonic cleaner.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

More of a problem because the film has dyes, not metallic silver.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

This is probably the best advice. Before doing so, I would use compressed air and a wide camel hair brush to remove any loose debris. I doubt if rewashing and drying with Pho-Flo will accomplish much. And since the negatives are probably cut into individuals or short strips, this will be a lot of work.

LR and PS have excellent tools for restoring pictures. The time and patience needed is worth it.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

It sounds like you run the gamut of cleaning solutions. How about soaking them in water overnight?

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

And swell the emulsion?

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Fortunately, as a teenager, I became friends with some camera store clerks who mentored me in proper B&W film processing care. I brought all my chemicals and the wash water to the same temperature, +/- 2F. After developer and stop bath, all my film was fixed in Kodak Rapid Fixer with Hardener, rinsed for 30 seconds in water, then rinsed in Heico Perma-Wash for five minutes, washed for 5-10 minutes, and dipped in Photo-Flo before a quick squeegee. Then it was hung to dry in a dust-free shower stall. My negatives are nearly all intact and pristine after as long as 50 years!

I can't say the same for negatives I digitize for others. They are all over the place... clean, dirty, scratched, mildewed, stained with residual chemicals... splashed with soft drinks or coffee...

So, from safest to most effective, here's what I use to clean film. I use all of them when scanning or macro re-photographing slides and negatives:

Giotto Rocket Blower Bulb (knocks off surface dust only — all I usually need for personal film, except in Winter)

Dust-Off Canned Air (Gaffer taped to a table so the refrigerant does not come out, this solution has more concentrated air pressure than the blower bulb. I use it first for severely dusty film.)

1" Staticmaster brush (Camel's hair brush and Polonium strip... Polonium neutralizes static and the brush does a good job of sweeping away the loose dust. I need this most of the time in Winter.)

Ilford Antistaticum cloths (Used gently, they neutralize static and wipe thicker films of dust off of film.)

Photosol PEC-12 film cleaner (Ethanol plus N-Butyl Acetate mixture... This is intended for removing non-water based stains, markings and debris from conventional silver-based photographic emulsions (films and/or prints, whether in color or B&W). It is best to spray a few drops onto a soft, lint-free applicator, and then wipe the moistened applicator lightly over the area to be cleaned.)

In extreme cases, I will re-fix B&W negs, then use Heico Perma-Wash and a 5-10 minute running water wash before 30 seconds in Photo-Flo and air drying them in a dust-free shower stall.

For color films, I use ONLY PEC-12. Isopropyl alcohol at 98% strength is an alternate, if you can find it. AVOID water, as it combines with fungus mildew to dissolve color film emulsions. If water must be used, start with PEC-12 or 98% Isopropyl, then hit just the water-soluble crud with a cotton swab and distilled water.