Cleaning negs

[j-dogg]

The lady at Walgreens got her fingerprints all over my negs and its showing in the scan, what do I clean them off with while not scratching the hell out of them?

[zsas]

Supposedly the only thing Kodak ever would recommend touching a neg would be a Kodak Photo Chamois. It is a animal hide that you keep wet in a jar, then squeeze the water from it and clean off the film, that has prev been washed. These Kodak chamois cloths are no longer made (of course). However they pop up on the bay and here ever so often.

This is how their instructions read. I had a trashed neg that came clean following the below.


Here is what they look like (note this is a sold one):
http://www.apug.org/forums/forum379/...ning-film.html

[edcculus]

I'm not too familiar with color negatives, but we use film kleen in the graphics industry. Those are single color separation negatives though.

[Greg Davis]

PEC-12 and the accompanying towels. Works perfectly.

[Bob-D659]

Isopropyl alcohol 99%, Ronsonol lighter fluid, depending on what's on the negative. A reasonable chance it is hand lotion. Are the prints on the back or emulsion side?

Pec 12 used to be mostly methanol, but they got a "trade secret" listing for it now.

[Newt_on_Swings]

Edwal film cleaner. Eclipse solution as well (it is still labeled as methanol based). Pec pads and fine soft brush.

If all fails just do a wash with a bit of photo flo.

[Worker 11811]

For ordinary dust and dirt, use lukewarm water with a drop or two of PhotoFlo.
Submerge the film and wipe, lightly, with a clean Q-Tip. Hang the film to dry in a dust-free area.

For more aggressive cleaning, isopropyl alcohol will work. Use the "91%" variety from the drug store.
Even if you buy "pure" alcohol, it will absorb water out of the air, anyway.

After that, PEC-12, as mentioned above will do a good job if you follow the instructions.

If none of that works, the only things left are carbon tetrachloride or trichloroethane but you don't want to mess with that stuff. Even if you can find them, stuff is toxic. (Harmful vapors.)

[tkamiya]

Another vote for PEC-12. I use it with PECPAD and the combo works wonderfully.

Randy, I think the OP is talking about C41 films, not B&W. Water and photoflo will do mor damage...

[brucemuir]

Do you guys know what the ingredients of Pec-12 are?

[j-dogg]

The prints are on both sides.

This is for C-41