Vacuuming film holders

[Drew Wiley]

The vac itself should be outside your cleaning room to prevent dust from being stirred up even worse. The alternative is to acquire a small true HEPA vac with
variable power which you can use on a low setting. And I'm not referring to those phony-labeled cheapo "HEPA" conversions sold by home centers which will pass
a fair amt of dust straight thru. I keep a small Festool vac in my lab. But my procedure for filmholders in simply to blow them off with low PSI air from my compressor air line, aiming this at a big electronic air cleaner which prevents any dust from circulating in the room.

[Ben Hopson]

The best vacumming set up I have seen was at a local studio/lab (now closed). The vacuum, a Shop Vac, was located outside the small room where holders were cleaned. The hose connected to a wooden box with an opening in the top to rest a 4X5 holder on. The opening was lined around the perimeter with felt. There was a switch next to the box to turn on the vacuum. All you did was lightly press holder down on the felt, turn on vacuum and slide the dark slide in and out a couple times, flip the holder and repeat and the holder was clean. Quick and effective.

Ben

[Heroique]

I’ve never used a vacuum cleaner on my holders, and I hope I never will.

If the moment ever arrives, this thread offers several useful tips.

Here, by contrast, are a few tips about how I plan to forever avoid the vacuum cleaner option:

1. First, I purchased new (or “like-new”) holders that really didn’t need any initial cleaning in the first place. I carefully cleaned them anyway. And I mean every speck of dust I could see upon the closest inspection. Then into a new zip-lock bag it goes. I place individual holders, in their individual bags, into another larger one – for storage.

2. When it’s time for loading, I first clean my work area of dust. Mainly, this simply means wiping or lightly sponging my work surface where the holders will sit. (And if it’s convenient, I’ll load them sometime after taking a shower. No, not to clean myself before loading, though that may be an unintended benefit! It’s to knock dust/static electricity out of the air, a problem in my work area.)

3. After loading a holder, I’ll return it to its zip-lock bag, and place it with any others in a larger bag – ready for my next field trip.

4. In the field, I minimize the time a holder is in the air. (This, I think, is among the most neglected of field habits, even by the most careful of photographers.) Only when I’m ready for a click do I remove the holder from its bag. And after the click, back into the zip-lock bag it goes. Immediately.

5. When I’m back home, and it’s time to unload, my first step is to wipe-off the outside of the bags, especially if I’ve visited a windy-dusty landscape. This is yet another overlooked habit that can make a difference. I then repeat Step 2 before final unloading…

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“Dust-on-the-film” is now no more than a rare occurrence. (Managing dust in the darkroom, or while scanning, is another story.) And I’ve never had to re-clean the holders, at least nothing more than a few careful wipes w/ anti-static, lint-free material. And that’s to remove the few specks of dust from the field that can only have landed on the holder during its few precious moments in the air, or those longer moments when waiting for the wind or light to improve...

[Ben Hopson]

I also do not personally use a vacuum clean for my holders. I do use an anti-static brush and canned air when needed for cleaning and anti-static zip lock bags for storing until ready to use. Dust has not been a problem using this method of cleaning and storage.