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dave4242
19-Mar-2017, 16:56
Hey all,

Had an interesting chat with a fiend toady and he said an "old timer" tol him to use alcohol instead of photo as a drying agent to speed up drying and avoid contaminants on his negatives.

Anyone hear of this?

Very curious if this is a good solution.

Thanks!

Greg
19-Mar-2017, 17:07
Old darkroom trick newspaper photographers used to greatly speed up the film's drying time. 1950s news photographer once told me that Vodka was also used but not poured down the sink's drain...

dave4242
19-Mar-2017, 17:09
LOL thanks!

jp
19-Mar-2017, 17:24
I've done it. Keep it off your hands when rinsing film as it will remove oil from your hands and put it on the film.

But yes, if you clean your film with clean alcohol, it dries quickly. In the summer here, it's humid and takes 1-2 days for film to dry without it.

I mostly use 91% from the drugstore, which is not for drinking and much cheaper. You don't have to use it pure either. typically just a splash in the final wash is plenty unless you're in a hurry.

dentkimterry
19-Mar-2017, 18:19
I put 30ml of alcohol in one quart of mixed photoflo. Have had excellent results.

dave4242
19-Mar-2017, 21:22
Thanks everyone think i'll try it! :)

Jim Galli
19-Mar-2017, 22:52
If you have very hard water like we do out in the desert, I've learned to use a few grains of sodium hexametaphosphate (http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2060353.m570.l1311.R1.TR1.TRC0.A0.H0.Xsodium+hexa.TRS0&_nkw=sodium+hexametaphosphate&_sacat=0) (calgon) in my final rinse. Just a pinch, doesn't take much.

koraks
20-Mar-2017, 00:28
I tried it once or twice with denatured alcohol, but only something like 10ml added to 500ml of water. Didn't do anything. A much higher concentration would probably work, but then I'd rather just use a few drops of surfactant. In the end that's cheaper and its effectiveness is proven.

Jim Noel
20-Mar-2017, 02:07
I put 30ml of alcohol in one quart of mixed photoflo. Have had excellent results.

That is redundant.

Doremus Scudder
20-Mar-2017, 02:26
That is redundant.

I'm curious as to whether alcohol acts as a surfactant in this application (I've never used alcohol to speed film drying).

PhotoFlo is a surfactant and prevents droplets from forming and causing drying marks/spots. Alcohol, I know, can be used to speed drying, as it displaces water in the emulsion and promotes evaporation. But, does the alcohol also prevent formation of droplets?

Doremus

j.e.simmons
20-Mar-2017, 03:23
Back in the 70s, Yankee made a film dryer that seemed to be a mix of something like Photoflo (it foamed a little when shaken) and alcohol (smell was obvious). I used it for drying in high humidity and the negatives dried in about a half hour rather than a full day. I see no problem with the negatives forty years later.

locutus
20-Mar-2017, 04:17
Here in Finland even undiluted Photoflo is cheaper then Alcohol >:-D

JPJackson
20-Mar-2017, 04:26
5ml photo flow + 25ml 91% isopropyl alcohol in a 4 liters of water works well.

John Olsen
20-Mar-2017, 08:22
Back in the days of glass plates for holography, a series of alcohol rinses were said to reduce emulsion distortion during the drying process. We used that procedure, but I don't know if it was important.

jp
20-Mar-2017, 09:52
The shake test on here demonstrates how different percentages of alcohol affect surface tension of the liquid. My use of alcohol for film is simply for either cleaning or speeding drying. Distilled water by itself as a final rinse will give me film without drying spots.

http://learntomoonshine.com/proofing-your-moonshine-shake-test-gun-powder-test-hydrometer-test-explained

Michael Rosenberg
20-Mar-2017, 10:35
I routinely use isopropyl alcohol as a final rinse. It helps with drying, avoiding water spots, or getting microscopic particles in water drying on the film. It will sometimes remove the last bit of anti-halation dye on the film if left to soak.

Mike

chassis
20-Mar-2017, 11:09
I have started using alcohol with a little photo flo and have noticed a small reduction in drying time. Two film drying and photo flo questions:

- does anyone use warm (100 deg F) rinse/photo flo for black and white non C-41 film? It seems warmth speeds drying time when I run C-41.

- does anyone use C-41 Kodak final rinse for black and white non C-41 film? I hear it is photo flo and some other stuff. I get better and faster drying performance with C-41 than I do with, say, Tri-X processed at 68 deg F for all steps.

Michael Graves
20-Mar-2017, 11:18
Back in the days of Prohibition, photographers were allowed to buy grain alcohol for drying negatives. Which, according to Edward Weston, was why photographers had the best parties.

bigdog
20-Mar-2017, 16:41
Back in the 70s, Yankee made a film dryer that seemed to be a mix of something like Photoflo (it foamed a little when shaken) and alcohol (smell was obvious). I used it for drying in high humidity and the negatives dried in about a half hour rather than a full day. I see no problem with the negatives forty years later.

"Yankee Instant Film Dryer"

used a lot of it!

EdWorkman
22-Mar-2017, 11:21
Alcohol replaces the water in the emulsion.
Alcohol vaporizes quickly, thus dries out of the emulsion more quickly than water
If you want to do it reeeaaallly fast, use alcohol, then ether- watch out for explosion and a bad headache