Using bleach on B&W film to retouch

[Andrew O'Neill]

Andrew, here's some specific direction I hope you will find helpful, as I cannot imagine why you presently have any need for people here at all.

[alavergh]

Awesome, thanks! As I've searched myself, I've learned more terms that made it easier to search. I would just start with, "bleaching black and white negatives" then I'd add retouching, and the chemical used and stuff, but I hadn't had very good luck.

[matthew klos]

Ansel Adams " The Print" talks about bleaching. Steve Anchells "Darkroom cookbook" talks about it.

[alavergh]

I've heard a lot about this darkroom cookbook. Maybe I should check it out.

[Kirk Gittings]

Boy retouching a negative with bleach? I would practice for a couple of years before trying it on a good negative. Actually I would never get good at it I'm fairly sure. I would get a first rate drum scan of the neg, retouch it in PS and have it printed out as a neg again on a film recorder or have silver prints made directly from the file based on my inkjet master print.

[alavergh]

I did make two negatives of this specific shot, both are probably useable if I crop out the leaks. It's an abstract shot anyways, but I'd practice a bit on the worse of the two. Of course, as you suggest, it may fail miserably and at least that negative won't be a huge loss. Looking more into it, it's something I might enjoy using on prints still, if it really does work more quickly on highlights.

[Doremus Scudder]

I did make two negatives of this specific shot, both are probably useable if I crop out the leaks. It's an abstract shot anyways, but I'd practice a bit on the worse of the two. Of course, as you suggest, it may fail miserably and at least that negative won't be a huge loss. Looking more into it, it's something I might enjoy using on prints still, if it really does work more quickly on highlights.

I've been bleaching for years, and I would be hesitant to try it on a negative. But, some do, so go for it. Just be aware than you'll likely ruin the first several (if not many) before getting the hang of it. I've had good results retouching prints with light areas from light leaks, flare, etc.

Bleaching is more of an art than a science and there are several approaches as well as several formulas.

Potassium ferricyanide is the main ingredient of most bleaches. Farmers Reducer is mix of ferricyanide and sodium thiosulfate, which is plain hypo. This increases the activity and removes silver from the image as the bleaching takes place.

I use a mix of ferricyanide and potassium bromide, which rehalogenates the silver during bleaching and allows the bleached area to be (somewhat) redeveloped if you bleach too far.

Dilutions for bleaches are highly personal, but start weak and work strong.

and good luck!

Best,

Doremus

[Eric Biggerstaff]

I use bleach on film, in fact did it just this weekend. I simply mix the bleach so that it looks the color of light pee (piss), pretty technical! I soak the neg in water for a few minutes and then position it on my viewing board and use the back of my wet finger to lightly squeegee the film to remove some of the water. Then with a small 0 or 00 brush, I apply the bleach on the areas that I want to reduce (make thinner) while holding a small hose with a steady stream of water under the area that I bleached so the bleach will not touch the areas I do not want impacted.

I continue this process until I get close the result I want, better to be a little under bleached than over because once done you can never get it back! When completed, you must re-fix the film and wash it.

So, while this is not difficult to do, you will want to practice on some negs that are not good so you can learn. It is not something I would recommend to someone fairly new to darkroom printing.

[Kirk Gittings]

Eric you are a braver man than I....would you be interested in providing a picture here scanned from a print where you bleached the negative?

[Jim Noel]

You can use household bleach. Many years ago there was a product n the market in a smal bottle with a gloss rod in the cap which was nothing but household bleach. It was meant for prints, but I often used it for negatives.
If you decide to use any bleach PRACTICE, PRACTICE PRACTICE on undesirable negatives before attempting it on a good one. You need to learn how fast the bleach works. Some of the books of the 1930-40 era have sections on bleaching. I beueve it is true of " Looten's On Enlarging", but right nw I am headed out and don't have time to check.