Drying issues.....

[Gandhi]

bah,

I never remember having any issues with watermarks on my negs, but I seem to be cursed with it at the mo.

Any good tips?

I've been using distilled water for the final rinse with wetting agent and still I seem to be getting awful marks everywhere.

Thoughts are....

1) Bathroom to warm, areas of film drying before water has chance to run off

2) Not long enough in the wetting agent, I'm soaking the film for about a minute at the moment

3) Squeegee? Not sure I really want to use one as I don't have any problems with scratches at the moment and besides, I don't seem to be having the same problem with 5x4 negs?

Have had a hunt around on the net but there are so many different ideas on the subject I think it's just going to be painfull experimentation until I get it right!

 

[ekimeno]

I always make sure in the bathroom the windows and door are closed and the heater is off. Also, a silly mistake I made a few times was to rinse the wetting agent off. Now I remove the film from the wetting agent and with my fingers already wet with some of the agent, squeegy the excess off in one wipe only. Two wipes removes too much agent. I guess each to his own!

 

[joxby]

Do you have a scan that shows these water marks ?, and what size film are we talking about ?

I've never had watermarks, I don't even use whetting agent, must be something in the water, sheep snot or something :shrug:
Are you sure they are watermarks, describe them if you don't have a scan..

 

[hellogoodbye]

I've heard someone saying that hanging your negatives diagonally help because the water has less of an area to run down