Cleaning old old negatives

[Th3G4mbl3r]

i have some realyl really old negatives. more than 5 years. at that time i was totoally ignorant abt fotography ands tuff. some of those hv gotten dusty and mebbe even fungus. any chance or method of recovering them back....

 

[jasonpgc]

S$28 PEC 12 ( Photo Emulsion Cleaner ) @ Cathay Photo. Read the instructions before use.

 

[ericp]

Dear gobbledegook (sorry, can't pronounce your name, th3g... thpfft... trffphhfft... ah, forget it )

I've been told that you can also use Photo-flo, mixed with distilled water, to clean old negatives and slides. I haven't done it myself, but it sounds workable, and loads cheaper than PEC-12.

However, if those negatives are precious, maybe you should bring them to a pro lab to see what they can do ... most of the time, if they think you can do it yourself, they'll advise you what to do.

Hope this helps ... as always, test first on something that's not important until you figure out the best way to do it.

.....
You gotta know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away, know when to run ...
.....

 

[kahheng]

Originally posted by ericp
I've been told that you can also use Photo-flo, mixed with distilled water, to clean old negatives and slides. I haven't done it myself, but it sounds workable, and loads cheaper than PEC-12.
.

I absolutely have to say something here:

This is outrageously dangerous advice.

You were told by whom?

Using distilled water with a surfactant like Photo-flo is not too different from using water, which is likely a fatal exercise unless you're running your negs through a WATER BATH of a distilled water, Photo-flo combo. (Which is still an exercise fret with DANGER unless you know what the hell you're doing.)

Here's prime example that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. To just quote someone else's advice without elaborating or thinking through how stuff works can lead to horrific outcomes. I can't imagine the amounts of precious negs that someone who takes up this advice naively will lose.

For the original poster, Big Yellow's current recommendation is to use 100% ethyl alcohol (don't substitute it with the stuff you get at the pharmacy - there's water in the alcohol you buy there. Water is your worse enemy for this task). Dig around the Kodak website and you should find the relevant pub.

PEC12 is well worth the money. Do not rub the Pecpads hard on your media. They can still scratch that way.

 

[jasonpgc]

Originally posted by kahheng

PEC12 is well worth the money. Do not rub the Pecpads hard on your media. They can still scratch that way.

Dear friend, PEC 12 is a bottle of liquid specially made to remove oil based stains from photographical film and similar materials. You don't have to rub the surface. It is supposed to dissolve the stain with just one light wipe from a cotton bud. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE USE !!!!!! :bsmilie:

 

[kahheng]

Originally posted by jasonpgc
Dear friend, PEC 12 is a bottle of liquid specially made to remove oil based stains from photographical film and similar materials. You don't have to rub the surface. It is supposed to dissolve the stain with just one light wipe from a cotton bud. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE USE !!!!!! :bsmilie:

Yes Jason, I know what Pec12 is and how it should be used, I have been using it for the last 8 years. And yes, there are people who do not read instructions, unlike yourself. I have had friends complain to me that using Pec12 scratches their negs until I find out that they actually press down hard when they can't get tougher dirt out.

Good try TA. :thumbsd:

 

[ericp]

Originally posted by kahheng
I absolutely have to say something here:

This is outrageously dangerous advice.

You were told by whom?

Ouch ! Define "over-reaction" :bsmilie:

I had the same problem with moldy slides, and was searching for ways of dealing with it, and this seemed to be one approach ... I checked with the people at Cathay Photo (the professional side) and they said that it should not harm the slides, but to be careful and test first every time, as the precious slides are irreplaceable.

That's why I put in the caveats in my post ... to test first. At first sign of trouble, you stop ...

Chill, dude

BTW, to answer Gambler's original question further, I did try other ways, some of them bordering on the ridiculous, to see which is the best way. One method involved white glue, another needed duct tape ... :bsmilie: ... needless to say, 99% of the attempts didn't work, but I had fun trying ... bit of a twisted cerebral exercise ...

 

[Th3G4mbl3r]

Thx a lot dudes.. will try out the pec 12 stuff and will let u know. and will definitely read up the instructions carefully b4 i try it out... http://forums.clubsnap.org/images/icons/icon7.gif

 

[Juvelyn]

Recently sent some negatives to Color Lab at Adelphi for salvaging

The negatives weren't mouldy, but were badly scratched. The staff there said they can do touch-up and then save it into a CD for me.

Quite expensive tho' - only rescueing one frame, but costs $20 or more