Film stuck to film holder - how to clean?

[cbenoit]

Hi, I purchased a Sinar P recently and it came with twenty Lisco Regal II film holders, about 15 of them had film in them from the eighties. The film was stuck to the holder, when I peeled the film off the holders a sticky substance remained on them. The question are: what can I soak these in to soften the old film and how can I clean the film holders after that? I need something that won't eat the plastic.
Thanks in advance for your suggestions

[Louie Powell]

Was the film stuck uniformly to the holders, or was there just a spot in the middle of the sheet? Some photographers like to put a small piece of double stick tape in their holders to prevent the film from shifting or popping.

I would start with something like lighter fluid to try to remove the adhesive. If that doesn't work, there is a product called "Goof off" that does a pretty good job of cutting through adhesives. Obviously want to test it first to make sure it doesn't do any permanent damage to the holders.

And why is this filed in the "digital" forum?

[Ron Marshall]

If it is the original film base or some decomposition product it might dissolve in warm soapy water, with some gentle scraping.

[Ron Marshall]

That last post should have read emulsion, not base.

[vijayn]

I would not recommend Goof Off; it can dissolve plastic.

[Paul Metcalf]

If it is old tape, baby oil works great. Use sparingly. Follow with lighter fluid to clean up, used sparingly also. We used that on 50+ year old fiberglass impregnated engineering drawings.

[SAShruby]

I used Goof Off to clean film holders and it worked very good. No dissolved plastic, works excellent.

[Louie Powell]

Vijay's concern about Goof-Off is legitimate, but -

- you should always test before using a solvent on something valuable, and if the test indicates a problem, STOP!
- use sparingly - no more than is necessary to do the job
- don't use a solvent that is any more agressive than necessary to do the job. Start with rubbing alcohol, then lighter fluid, and finally Goof-Off if nothing else works.
- the septum in most Lisco filmholders is metal and should not be affected by mild solvents.

But before we decide on a solution, we still need to get a better description of the problem - was the film stuck because there was double sided tape under it to keep the sheets from popping or sliding, or was there an actual deterioriation of the plastic base that cause it to stick to the holders?