Clean Negatives
Before you use a negative to create a photographic print, the negative must be as clean as possible. Dust, watermarks, streaks and fingerprints on negatives are just a few things that will cause a print to be flawed. However, cleaning negatives can damage them if you don't use the right techniques; and once damaged, negatives cannot be repaired.
Contents
[hide]Steps
Cleaning Negatives After Developing
- Use the Ilford rapid fixed method of washing after developing your negatives. The Ilford method uses far less water while leaving your negatives cleaner than if you were to use running water.
- Rinse out the processing tank that contains the reel of negatives with running water, then fill it with water.
- Turn the tank over 5 times. Pour out the water and refill it.
- Turn the tank over 10 times. Pour out the water and refill it.
- Turn the tank over 20 times. Pour out the water.
- Put your negatives in a water bath that contains a surfactant. You can buy a surfactant at most photography supply stores. Mix it with water in the ratio called for in the directions.
- Take the negatives off the reel and hang them to dry. If you want to strip the water from the negatives to speed drying, dip your fingers in the water bath first.
- Use canned air to blow off any dust or grit that may have settled on the negatives while they dried. Take care to hold the can far enough away that if any liquid comes out of the can, it doesn't get on the negatives.
- To prevent liquid from spurting out of the nozzle, don't shake the can before you use it. The "air" is actually a gas stored at high pressure, and therefore it is a liquid until you press the nozzle. As it leaves the can, it expands to become a gas. This expansion is what makes the can cold.
- Gently rub the dry negatives with a soft, static-free cloth. Be careful when rubbing that you don't have any kind of grit on the negatives or else you will scratch them.
Cleaning Old Negatives
- Spray the negatives with a negative cleaning solution. You can buy negative cleaning solution at photography supply stores.
- Wipe the negatives dry with a soft, static-free cloth. Make sure the cloth is clean so you don't grind any grit into the negatives, which will scratch them. You may want to buy disposable wipes for this purpose at a photography supply store.
- Clean especially dirty, rusty or moldy negatives by soaking them in stabilizer. Gently wipe them clean with a soft, static-free cloth.
- Black and white negatives can be soaked in water with a surfactant.
- Color negatives should be soaked in C-41 or E-6 stabilizer solution, depending on the film type.
Tips
- Negatives are easier to clean if they haven't been cut, because you can use the blank ends of the rolls to hold them or clip them to a drying line.
Things You'll Need
- Negative processing tank
- Water
- Drying line and clips
- Soft, static-free cloths
- Surfactant
- Negative cleaning solution
- Canned air
- C-41 or E-6 stabilizing solution
- Tub or tray
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