best way to clean old negs...

[santino]

what's the best way to clean old negatives?
I've found some old negatives (probably 40 years old) and they seem a bit dirty and foggy. what should I do? wash them again? in a special acid combination?

advice appreciated

 

[terri]

I would definitely want to rinse them first, to make sure most of the dust debris was eased off and couldn't scratch them. Gently running water through the developing tank might be the safest way to handle them. I have also used stuff called Film Kleen (I think it's spelled strangely like that) and it's a good product for cutting through haze and fingerprints.

I'm sure others will chime in with other ideas and products.

 

[ksmattfish]

Try printing them first, to see how bad it really is.

 

[santino]

it is bad

 

[santino]

btw. they look kinda "oily", dunnno.

 

[Hertz van Rental]

I found these film cleaning solutions in a 1953 copy of the BJP Almanac. They reputedly remove dirt and fingerprints. I present them here as curios and I have no idea if they work. Use them at your own risk.

Acetic acid ................. 1 part
Vaseline .................... 5 parts
Carbon tetrachloride .... 100 parts

Immerse the film in the solution for 10 minutes. When dry gently polish with a chamois leather.

Ethyl alcohol ............. 85 parts
Methyl alcohol ........... 10 parts
Ammonia 0.880 ......... 5 parts

Wipe the film with a chamois well moistened with the solution.

 

[Force of Nature]

I clean my prints by running them through the fix again.

 

[santino]

thank you all!

I think I will try out Hertz's method