Disposable camera in the washing machine?

Pork

Pork

Messages
1,279
Name
Paul
Edit My Images
Yes
No I'm not asking is it a good idea, as I'm sure it's not :D

A friend has just washed a disposable camera in the washing machine (in error of course), and was wondering if it's ruined the film, or is it worth taking to get developed?

Thanks
Paul
 
Get it developed. It might be fine, if not at least it might be intresting.
 
It'll probably be fine, some one on here did something similar a few months ago.
 
Thanks for the input all :) it's her kids school trip pics so she's going to get it developed. I can't share the pics but I will update the thread with the outcome :)
 
Pork said:
More info....

40 deg wash for 15 mins, then they realised and stopped the wash, lol.
Click to expand...

Because it matters what temp it washed at? :)

Seriously, if it has fully dried out there's a good chance it could be ok, I would have though the main effect would be from the washing powder interacting with the film. Will be very interested to know how it turns out.
 
thecornflake said:
Because it matters what temp it washed at? :)
Click to expand...
Yes. The film emulsion is gelatin* based, which is not tremendously stable.
Unlikely that 40° will cause huge problems over a short timeframe like this but, yes, broadly speaking, temperature is one of the factors that could cause problems. A 65° wash would probably destroy or significantly disrupt the emulsion.

But, as you say, the washing powder might be a bigger worry here. If it's biological washing powder it may digest the gelatin to one extent or another.

They might end up with some cool looking abstracts though!

*what do vegan film photographers use?
 
Last edited:
Actually, the temperature actually does matter. Above 30 degrees the emulsion becomes very soft and can stick to anything it touches. As the cycle was stopped relatively quickly it should be fine.

Should...
 
ghoti said:
*what do vegan film photographers use?
Click to expand...

Kodak and Fujifilm trialled some synthetic gelatin for film bases but it wasn't good enough, it never made it to mass market, guess they'd just have to use digital!
 
there was a thing on lomography about doing something similer, probably get orignal pics + "process artifacts"
:D
 
Probably ok so long as it wasnt spun out, that would cause all of the silver crystals to centrifuge to the outside of the film and block up.
 
As promised, I'm just letting anyone interested know the outcome on a disposable camera that went through a 15 min wash. And all looks fine and dandy! Thanks for the input all :)

One of the kids pics with the disposable
 
Brilliant - you could totally sell that idea to all the sadsack 'Lomographers' out there :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top