Running film through a dishwasher

georgeisabamf · Apr 20, 2014

So I know I'm not the first person to do this seeing as how I got the idea from an online article, but I decided to give it a try and see what happened. I used a roll of Lomography Color Negative 400 film, which already is known for having obscure colors/quality. I ran it through a dishwasher, and then used a couple methods to ensure the film was dry entirely before loading it into my camera and snapping away. All of these photos were shot using a Holga 135 toy camera.

Anyhow, here are some of my results from the roll I just got developed:

As you can see this gave it a really weird/dreamy effect. Some of the shots were so messed up that all you could see were blobs of colors. Overall this was fun and I'd enjoy doing it again. I want to find other methods that will give film different effects and would like to experiment with "ruining" film so to speak. Has anyone tried doing something such as this themselves?

dxqcanada · Apr 20, 2014

Hmm, what dishwasher detergent did you use ?
Did you also add a rinse agent ?

Designer · Apr 20, 2014

I hope that is what you wanted.

Derrel · Apr 20, 2014

Wow--that is soooooo very "alternative-looking"!!! You got some really wild, unusual, and very "different" looks. It would probably be hard to replicate those looks in software. I think some of the images are really,really good. I like the looks of these much more so than say, outdated film, or film that has been "cooked" in an attic or car dash in a tin box, etc.,etc..

Whiskeyjack · Apr 20, 2014

Some of these are wild. I love them!

georgeisabamf · Apr 21, 2014

dxqcanada said:
Hmm, what dishwasher detergent did you use ?
Did you also add a rinse agent ?

As far as detergent is concerned, I really don't remember honestly. I didn't use a rinsing agent per se, but I'm pretty sure I used one of those Cascade Actionpac detergent capsule things (that would be my best guess as to what I used), which may have rinsing agent in them, I'm not sure. But I did "rinse" the film by letting it soak in different baths of tap water (my tap water is rather hard though). After that I unwound the film out in a darkroom, blew it dry with a hairdryer, and then let it sit in a bag of rice for about 2-3 weeks before I shot the roll.

Designer said:
I hope that is what you wanted.

It was more of an experimental type of ordeal. When I shoot with toy cameras I generally like the light leaks, off colors, vignetting, and bad quality that is often present with such cameras. But this was just to see what type of result I would get. I actually like some of the pictures from the roll, but most of it is hit or miss. I could see where a lot of people don't enjoy such a style of photos, but it's a lot of fun for me to do things like this. Going to try more experimenting with different rolls more often. I also made this post to possibly encourage people to try things such as this if they desire. I guess it really just depends if you are into the whole "lomography" thing or not.

Derrel said:
Wow--that is soooooo very "alternative-looking"!!! You got some really wild, unusual, and very "different" looks. It would probably be hard to replicate those looks in software. I think some of the images are really,really good. I like the looks of these much more so than say, outdated film, or film that has been "cooked" in an attic or car dash in a tin box, etc.,etc..

Thank you, it's much appreciated. I have some old rolls of 120 film sitting around that I bought recently at an antique store. They expired forever ago and haven't been stored properly at all. I'm curious to see the results of those rolls once I get them developed as well.

Whiskeyjack said:
Some of these are wild. I love them!

I greatly appreciate it!

Edit: Also, none of these photos have been touched in post processing. So everything you see was an effect done in camera.

timor · Apr 21, 2014

Don't run 120 rolls thru dishwasher maybe if you want to get any effect on them.

vintagesnaps · Apr 21, 2014

I love the colors, I think some of these work better than others, like the ferris wheel, the two riders up in the air, and Cold Drinks. The amusement park rides are a great subject for this style.

The_Traveler · Apr 21, 2014

Consider just eating the film and then waiting a day or so.

terri · Apr 22, 2014

You did get some interesting colors out of this. It also helped that you shot a lot of these at a fair, which also lends itself to surreal looking imagery. Of them all I think the "113" image is the most interesting.

I doubt it's anything I'd want to try - not a fan of applying deliberate heat/trauma to an innocent roll of film. :lol:

But then, I've seen terrific results from artists who "kill the babies" by carefully slashing certain parts of their negatives before making enlargements, and they can yield very graphically beautiful images.

For me personally, alternative processes are more deliberate efforts to craft a piece resulting in a certain color, look or feel. Meaning, some artistic control and an end vision is part of the approach. I love a happy accident as much as the next guy, but am more appreciative of them if they come during a calculated approach. Simply running film through a dishwasher would not supply that element for me.

Just my two cents.

Brave of you to give it a go! You might want to shoot normally, compose carefully, then inspect the negatives at a light table to consider the negative slashing. That could also get you some good results. Have fun!

georgeisabamf · Apr 22, 2014

terri said:
You did get some interesting colors out of this. It also helped that you shot a lot of these at a fair, which also lends itself to surreal looking imagery. Of them all I think the "113" image is the most interesting.

I doubt it's anything I'd want to try - not a fan of applying deliberate heat/trauma to an innocent roll of film. But then, I've seen terrific results from artists who "kill the babies" by carefully slashing certain parts of their negatives before making enlargements, and they can yield very graphically beautiful images.

For me personally, alternative processes are more deliberate efforts to craft a piece resulting in a certain color, look or feel. Meaning, some artistic control and an end vision is part of the approach. I love a happy accident as much as the next guy, but am more appreciative of them if they come during a calculated approach. Simply running film through a dishwasher would not supply that element for me.

Just my two cents. Brave of you to give it a go! You might want to shoot normally, compose carefully, then inspect the negatives at a light table to consider the negative slashing. That could also get you some good results. Have fun!

Hmmm.. I've never thought or heard of doing that with negatives. Think I may give that a try one day soon! I see what you are saying though about the lack of control as to what the end result will be, and I myself would rather have control over it if I could. But I will look into the technique you mentioned and see if I can find any examples of it or something.

StoneNYC · May 11, 2014

I think this is a neat idea, I just wish it were done in a more controlled way.

I would have used a known film that's good instead of an already "weird" film, and then used a camera that was also good.

Because I can't tell what issues are the camera, what issues are the film, and what issues were caused by the washing machine...

Was this 35mm or 120 and did you un-roll it first and then put it through, or leave it wound up?

How did you get it from the fish washer to darkroom without exposing it to light along the way? That could also have causer the issues.

I'm using "issues" to refer to any non-standard emulsion behaviors like the colors and the scratches and light leaks, color cast, etc.

Anyway it's a neat experiment. I won't waste my film trying this most likely but it's certainly a good thought to consider in the future.

Thanks for sharing.

Aimee Danger · Jun 24, 2019

I once washed a roll of 35mm 400 Kodak color film in a load of laundry after shooting it and got similar effects. I used 'natural' laundry soap. It turned the overall color palette kind of green and blobby, but with yellow streaks throughout, but it also maintained good detail. It happened to be a shoot from after my group got caught in a sandstorm in the Black Rock desert, so it contributed to the overall effect nicely.
I would actually recommend washing it after shooting it rather than before as I don't think I would want to risk my camera.

danbob6 · Jun 24, 2019

Very interesting and oddly colored images. Up to today I had only heard of cooking fish in a dishwasher, but I guess they're handier appliances that I had thought!