Canned air "spat" on my negative

[Norm Buchanan]

I did a very dumb thing and used one of the canned air dusting products to try and blow some dust off a negative. I tipped the can and it sprayed what I presume is propellant onto the negative (emulsion side). After evaporating there is some residue left that is clearly visible. I am thinking of rewashing in water and then doing the usual photo-flow wash and hang dry. I have no idea if this will work but I thought I'd post the idea in case there may be a better solution, or worse - no solution.

Arrrg, as I pulled the trigger on the can my brain was telling me it was a dumb idea...

[Bob Salomon]

Giottos Rocket Blasters.

No propellent, no spitting, nothing dangerous to inhale, not a Hazmat, doesn't run out of air, easy to travel with.

[Geert]

Giottos Rocket Blasters.

No propellent, no spitting, nothing dangerous to inhale, not a Hazmat, doesn't run out of air, easy to travel with.

And they also can be used on the average Packard shutter :)

G

[Mark Woods]

Wash and treat as you would normally. I've mishaps like that, but not with the canned air. It's a good way to ruin your day -- particularly with a lens.

[Ken Lee]

I had the same rude awakening when I bought a can of... whatever.

Here's what the Rocket Blaster looks like. It's well named.

[Daniel_Buck]

yes, the rocket blowers are awesome! I have several, so I can travel with them and still have one next to my scanner so I never forget it :-)

Good luck washing the negative! Hope it gets rid of it!

[Nate Battles]

The spots from the canned air will most likely not come out. Sometimes, it actually alters the emulsion, leaving a "ring". When shaken or turned upside down, it actually creates a freezing agent. This used to happen ALL the time at the lab I worked at--normally it wasn't me :). I learned my lesson the first time. Your tendency is to move the air can while dusting the negative. This is the opposite thing you should do. Go with the rocket blasters.

[walter23]

The one thing I don't like about rocket blowers is that they seem to have a fairly narrow stream of air compared to the other rubber bulb I've got. This concentration makes the force of the blast a bit higher, but doesn't cover as much area. I prefer to use a bulb with a wider opening that spreads the puff of air out. Works great in my film changing tent to puff errant bits of dust off while loading fresh film. I found I was missing them with the rocket blower and it's concentrated stream of air.

No problems if you can see what you're blowing off though, obviously, so it's good for negatives and scanning and lens cleaning (which is what I use mine for).

[Keith Pitman]

The canned air you get at an office supply store are very dangerous to anything delicate. The photographic canned air is much better. With either of them, however, don't move the can of air, but the object you want to blow dust off of. Moving the canned air can cause the burst of propellant to be expelled from the can. The Giottos bulbs are a good idea, but I still like canned air used carefully.

[Mike H.]

Similar feeling when, shortly after having had a drink out of my favorite glass full of ice tea, I blew some dust off my negative. Didn't realize there were lots of drops of ice tea on my mustache! :mad: Washing almost instantly and then Photo-Flo and then hanging it to dry again seemed to work. At least with my ice tea. :o

[Norm Buchanan]

Well, washing helped alot but not 100%. I guess this negative will be for digital use only. I'll definitely look into the rocket. I am thinking of getting a bottle of nitrogen or argon for evacuating the air over my developer and other chemistry before storing it, perhaps I can get a bottle of dry air as well and use that to blow away dust.

[Vaughn]

Bummer...guess you have learned the lesson the hard way -- never shake the can, and always hold it upright. I also always spray my wrist first to feel for any dampness before I use it on any photographic equipment/film.

If I have a can on my counter, students always use it without asking. So I started keeping a can of teflon lubriacating spray on my counter -- makes them think twice!

Vaughn

[vinny]

The canned air you get at an office supply store are very dangerous to anything delicate. The photographic canned air is much better. With either of them, however, don't move the can of air, but the object you want to blow dust off of. Moving the canned air can cause the burst of propellant to be expelled from the can. The Giottos bulbs are a good idea, but I still like canned air used carefully.

Keith is right. Not all canned air is the same. Dust-Off Plus Refill's with the 360 degree vector valve is the the only stuff to use. No "spats". There's a reason its the film industry standard.

[cowanw]

I bought a co2 cartridgesprayer for travel to Africa. worked great with no residue. I found out after that you are not supposed to fly with them.
Regards
Bill

[RDKirk]

I only use air to clean out brushes. I momentarily ground the negative to the enlarger, brush it slowly, ground it again, and polish it with an Ilford Antistaticum.

[neil poulsen]

Those things scare me. Plus, the air can come out very cold, what with the rapid evaporation going on.

Hopefully, the mark on your lens won't affect image quality. Even still, it kind of hurts!