Best process for drying negatives after development?

[David Schaller]

Film hanging on the diagonal after Photo-Flo treatment. The surgical forceps grip a tiny piece of the corner well outside the picture area. These forceps are made for real surgery and they never let go either to drop a film or to slip off an artery.

This is brilliant! Where do you purchase the surgical forceps in bulk? I’ve only used one pair for fly fishing and... they were very expensive.

Thanks in advance,
Dave

[Ben Calwell]

I use alligator clips that I purchased at Radio Shack. I never squeegee my sheet film -- I just dunk them in Photo Flo and hang them to dry by one corner. Never had a problem.

[neil poulsen]

Skip the Photo-flo, just dip the negs in distilled water so there's nothing to leave a residue when dry. . . .

Interesting; I'll have to think about retiring photo flo.

Years ago, and after looking for something ready-made, I built my own negative drying cabinet. It includes doors to keep out dust. Works great; negatives dry overnight. I have spaces for drying medium format (12 exp.), 4x5, and 8x10. To hold the negatives, I found some chrome office clips at an Office Depot.

I use tap water, since our local Oregon water is really soft. I also use Photo Flo, but may reconsider. All that said, I don't see any residue on my negatives.

[tgtaylor]

For 35mm and 120 I lightly squeegee the film one time with a Jobo squeegee that I bought new and check for any damage to the rubber before I use it (its the damaged rubber that will cause a scratch) and hang the rolls up to air dry in the bathroom with Jobo film clips. It takes about 4 hours for the rolls to dry and have never had a problem with dust settling on them. For 4x5 and 5x7 I use these clips: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...ps.html?sts=pi on the very edge of the film to avoid marking the emulsion. 4x5 and 5x7 sheets are relatively light and the clip by itself applies enough force to securely hold the film. However 8x10 sheets are too heavy and will slip from the clips if placed close to the edge (film is slippery when wet) so I clasp a paperclip in the clip and hang the sheet with the paperclip through a small hole (like on Fuji film) that I punched in the rebate area with a Fiskers punch. Usually I let the sheets air dry in an Arkay film dryer (about 4 hours) but occasionally I need the negatives dry earlier so I'll turn the dryer on and the sheet(s) are dry in about 20 minutes. The Fiskers hole punch can also be used on 4x5 and 5x7 sheets which can then be hung with the paperclip. I don't squeegee 8x10 film as it is too large for the Jobo squeegee butsimply let it dry by one of the corners.

Thomas

[Maris Rusis]

This is brilliant! Where do you purchase the surgical forceps in bulk? I’ve only used one pair for fly fishing and... they were very expensive.

Thanks in advance,
Dave

Buy 'em off eBay. The "mosquito" size ones are big enough and when they come from China they are are about $3 each.

[John Kasaian]

Wooden camera, wooden clothes pin.
Because I'm unimaginative

[freecitizen]

I hang mine with a film clip top and bottom from a thin rope stretching across the inside of my shower recess.

Beforehand, I turn on the hot water to the shower and turn the exhaust fan off. I let lots of steam build up and float around. This settles any dust.

The film is soaked in a weak photoflo solution of distilled water before hanging. I gently squeegee the film with my first and second fingers ( wetted with the photoflo/distilled water liquid ) on either side of the film.

I close the door to the room and leave it until morning ( still no exhaust fan ). By doing this I never, ever get dust on my films.

[Cor]

Next too the good advice (diluted Photo-Flo in distilled water plus some iso-propanol) I use a JOBO Mistral dryer, it has a filter on top, I run it a couple of minutes on hot, BEFORE placing my negs in, then NO air stream, the idea beeing that the "pre-run" removes most dust. I aslo place my negatives in the film holders of this horrible (in my hands at least) Combi Plan tank. This set up requires over night drying though..

Best,

Cor

[mpirie]

I normally use a Durst UT100 drying cabinet, though rarely use the fan or heater.

Inside the dryer, I've added stainless steel clips from a well known Swedish furniture store: https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/...-art-80212201/

I can dry 12 5x4 sheets in close proximity to each other and because the fan isn't running, it's easy to stop them touching each other.


Mike

[nbagno]

You can buy a 6 foot high plastic cabinet at the hardware store new for around $75.00. I mounted a jobo heater box on top of mine. It’s perfect.








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