Strange marks on re-washed negative that won’t come out?

**Arg6442** · 12-Nov-2020, 13:59

Hey everyone,

I was wrapping up a printing session the other day and very clumsily got a few drops of water on an important 5x7 negative. Mildly annoyed, I put the sheet back through a wash cycle and hung it up to dry without much more thought. The next day, I took it down and saw that the base side of the negative was covered on one half with very strange smudges/marks/scuffs(?) that looked like drying marks. I set the negative through the wash again (20 minutes, room temperature water, patterson 12x16 rapid print washer, then a dunk in distilled water with photo flo — I hadn’t used photoflo the 2 previous washes and almost never use it when developing) and this morning, the same marks are there on the negative. I grabbed some isopropyl alcohol and a q-tip to try cleaning them off but they seem to just be stuck there. Any idea what it could be and how I should try to clean them off? I’m not sure that it’ll affect printing but I am a bit concerned.

Thanks!

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**jim_jm** · 12-Nov-2020, 15:21

Was your Photo-Flo working solution a fresh mix? I've seen residue floating in working solution that was a month or more old.
I think the age of the concentrate itself should not be an issue, as I have a bottle that's about ten years old and don't have any problems yet. I mix it at about 1:300 with distilled water.

**Arg6442** · 12-Nov-2020, 21:02

Originally Posted by jim_jm

Was your Photo-Flo working solution a fresh mix? I've seen residue floating in working solution that was a month or more old.
I think the age of the concentrate itself should not be an issue, as I have a bottle that's about ten years old and don't have any problems yet. I mix it at about 1:300 with distilled water.

Yep, it was fresh, but the marks showed up before I used photo-flo.

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**Doremus Scudder** · 13-Nov-2020, 10:27

Possibly mineral deposits from hard water. Try a prolonged soak in acetic-acid stop followed by a 5-minute wash and then your distilled water/Photo Flo.

Doremus