How do you wash 8x10 film?

[G Benaim]

Hi all,

If you don't own either a print washer or 8x10 hangers (the only methods I've read about), how else can you archivally wash 8x10 film? Thanks,

GB

[Jim Galli]

One way is to take one of those 44 oz. megadrink cups, curl the film so it is completely submerged, and gently put a rubber hose down to the bottom and just let the water flow a while.

[Louie Powell]

It is not necessary to have a continuous flow of water to wash film (or paper). Washing is a chemical diffusion process, not an abrasion process.

I wash my film by merely letting it soak in water. Periodically, I dump and replenish the water. As long as the film remains submerged between dumps, it washes complete in 5-6 cycles.

With 8x10 film stacked in a tray, there could be a concern that only the top sheet is exposed to water. One solution to that is to shuffle through the stack a couple of times between each dump and refill cycles. Alternatively, you might be able to cobble together something - perhaps in a plastic bin - in which the individual sheets are separated somehow. That would eliminate the need for shuffling, but you would still need to periodically dump and replenish the water.

[Dan Schmidt]

A print washer is a really nice way to do this

I use the same 14 slot verslab print washer i use for my prints. The dividers are flexible enough to reach in and get the sheets out.

Unlike prints where you can overlap them slightly and put them back to back to wash 56 prints, I only wash 14 sheets of film at a time.

I give them 30 min of wash, probably overkill, but the time is more set by how long it takes me to tray develop 14 sheets of film in two 7 sheet batches

I used to shuffle wash a stack of prints in a deep tray with water flowing into it, but i grew tired of that since I felt like I had to shuffle it a lot to get a good wash and could not do other things like develop more negs during the wash time

[Vaughn]

I do 5 negs at a time in a drum, but I wash each neg in its own 8x10 tray. I fill each tray and let a neg sit in it, agitate occasionally -- change the water occasionally. I m usually doing something else to keep me busy, so within an hour or two, and about 5 to 10 changes of water, I figure they are well washed.

Vaughn

[Bill_1856]

"How do you wash 8x10 film?"
Kodak print syphon with occasional leafing through them, (same as Weston).

[Ron Bose]

Louie,
What you say is true, however some flow of water will prevent a 'thick' boundary layer forming on the film surface. Flow will keep the layer to a minimum and replenish the 'contaminated' water near the surface with cleaner water.

This allows a better diffusion gradient and therefore make wash time shorter ...

[Ken Lee]

"I wash my film by merely letting it soak in water. Periodically, I dump and replenish the water. As long as the film remains submerged between dumps, it washes complete in 5-6 cycles."

Bravo !

To that end, I use the world-famous Dish Rack Film Washer (http://www.kenleegallery.com/html/tech/dishrack.htm).