I've been given a heap of old photos to do some restorations on. One of the photos is a 120mm negative that has been held in a small paper bag for go knows how long. Some of the paper is 'stuck' to the negative. My question is, is there something I can use to remove the stuck paper without damaging the negative? I'm figuring it will save me many hours of Photoshop fun if I can somehow clean it up first. Or perhaps I should take it to someone to clean the negative professionally?
I would simply soak it in a pan of clean warm water with just a touch of glycerine until the paper fell off and then a fair while longer to boot then wipe it gently with a soft clean fine damp sponge and hang it like you would a negative that you had just developed with weighted clips and let it dry ...
... I wouldn't let it near chemicals ...
HEH kiwinick beat me ... yeah ... if you don't have glycerine ... just a drop or two of dishwashing liquid should be fine too ... :)
All you need is is warm water. Soak it in for a few minutes until wet and you can very gently use your fingers to rub anything off. It won't scratch if you are gentle. If there is something still stuck soak a bit more and try again. Make sure when your done you drip dry it. Hang at an angle so a corner is the lowest spot. Do not touch it again until its completely dry. Like Greetmir said DO NOT USE any chemicals.... even those that are supposedly made for cleaning negatives, they leave a film. (I worked for several y ears in a pro lab that was mainly film, this way worked every time)
Thanks for all your help guys. If I'm feeling adventurous I'll give it a go. I know it'll save me a lot of editing time but still scared of damaging anything as it's a really old negative....
If you were in the US I'd tell you to mail it to me.... done it lots and lots of times!
Don't be afraid of it. Just be very aware of your sense of touch and be gentle. After all, the neg came out of a big dish of water, right after many chemical baths. Once it is wet it becomes very slippery on the surface, you'll feel it right away and you'll find it's not a mystery at all once you feel it. You can try just the corner at first.
edit to add: you would be hard pressed to make it any worse than it is now..... you CAN fix it! ;-)
use a baing dish with warm water and a little dishwash put neg & bag in, let soak until they part company. then rinse neg and hang by corner with peg
Is there any risk to the negative with this? The bag and the negative are separated but as you see by the scan there's quite a bit stuck to it!
IMO if you leave them to soak long enough the c**p should float of handle with care the negs emulsion will be soft, a soak in an Alum bath or refix in a fix/hardener would help handle by the edges wear cotton gloves when dry a wipe with alcohol should remove any other scum/dirt
I would not use any soap or detergent, just soak it in warm (70F or so) distilled water. The crap should loosen and float away with a little agitation, if the water gets crummy with stuff, just soak again in another distilled water bath until it's clean. When it's clean, you want to use a sheeting agent in the water to avoid any spots. Kodak makes some stuff called Photo-Flo, if you can find it, it's pretty cheap. Otherwise, you can use a rinse aid for a dishwasher like Jet-Dri. Just put a few drops in the last water bath and the water should come off in sheets without spots. Hang it to dry by one corner.
IMO if you leave them to soak long enough the c**p should float of handle with care the negs emulsion will be soft, a soak in an Alum bath or refix in a fix/hardener would help handle by the edges wear cotton gloves when dry a wipe with alcohol should remove any other scum/dirt
