Film drying time

Until it's completely dry, that is. When wet, film is _very_ easy to damage, and it's not very flat which will make scanning very difficult.

My experience shows that it takes around three-four hours for my film to get completely dry (it's hanged in my bathroom to dry, and the last rinsing bath is with ionized water + a bit of Ilfotol wetting agent).
 
I usually leave mine hanging in the shower, using the weighted film clips at the bottom. As I tend to process films of an evening - starting maybe 9pm, it tends to be hung up around 10pm and I take it down in the morning. By then it's not only dry, but has lost its tendency to curl so it's easier to manhandle into the scanners film-carrier.

oh yeah - seconded the wetting agent in the final rinse (though mine's usually 2 drops of ecover washing up liquid to 300ml of water (and DON'T AGITATE it :LOL:)
 
I used to have a heated film drying cabinet when I worked with film - took about 10 minutes. :)
 
TheBigYin said:
I usually leave mine hanging in the shower, using the weighted film clips at the bottom. As I tend to process films of an evening - starting maybe 9pm, it tends to be hung up around 10pm and I take it down in the morning. By then it's not only dry, but has lost its tendency to curl so it's easier to manhandle into the scanners film-carrier.
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Yep, that's exactly what I do as well. The time I was giving I kind of observed during an emergency developing session ;)

TheBigYin said:
oh yeah - seconded the wetting agent in the final rinse (though mine's usually 2 drops of ecover washing up liquid to 300ml of water (and DON'T AGITATE it :LOL:)
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Agitate! Agitation during washing is great. And saves water, as I am not using running water for this and it works perfectly. And don't bother with weighted clips, special tools and stuff - standard wooden pegs are more than adequate and you can have a pack of 100 for a price of one weighted clip :)

My general rule with film developing is - the simpler, the better. :)
 
(sod the Whales Mode) - I'm not on a water meter, so I do my main rinse under a running tap for 5-10 minutes (as long as it takes to clear up the rest of the mess tbh...) Then - when that's finished, before I take the film out of the spiral - I just pour one pre-mixed measure of 300ml of water and 2 drops of ecover into the tank, swish it around a couple of times to ensure it's all been in contact (but as I said - i don't agitate it, or i'd end up with bubbles all over the film!) then pour it off and remove the film from the spiral. To be honest, I live in a area with pretty decent water quality, we're not badly troubled with kettles furring up etc so it's not particularly hard water. I know a friend had to use de-ionised water (from halfords - for topping up batteries iirc) for rinsing when he was at college as the tapwater was so poor.

I agree that the best way is to keep things simple - I did keep it simple - I simply opened the box of BnW developing kit a friend dropped off for me as he no longer used it, and in it were lots of little things like the film clips, thermometer, film canister opening tool... I'd certainly not have gone and bought them, but it seems churlish not to use 'em if you've been given them, doesn't it :shrug:
 
I am washing the film by agitating 4,8,12,16 times with water and then for 32 times with ionised water with a drip of Ilfotol. After that, I am hanging it and spilling a bottle cap of ionised water over it (from the top), so the bubbles are gone. No scratches, nice, even material afterwards... But I guess everyone has their own methods :) As long as it works, it rocks! :)
 
radiantvision, where do you get ionised water from?

I also agitate during the wetting agent cycle - your negs/slides appearing magically through the bubbles is the best part! (y)

EDIT: or de-ionised water? :shrug:
 
Thanks for all the replies.

Processed my first "valuable" film today. Didn't want to risk damaging it. So it's hanging up overnight :).

The films I've processed so far (just practicing) are covered in scratches even though I've been quite gentle. But then I stuck them in the scanner literally the minute they were dry! Now I know...

Also I used de-ionised water for my final rinse this time as suggested, and it seems to have far less water marks on it than the other films! I thought we had good water here in Perthshire :shrug:
 
bobiscuit said:
snip...

Also I used de-ionised water for my final rinse this time as suggested, and it seems to have far less water marks on it than the other films! I thought we had good water here in Perthshire :shrug:
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What may well be perfect water for drinking or for making Whisky is not necessarily perfectly pure water - just check the list of minerals etc on the back of a bottle of spring water! I know that brewers go to great lengths even in good water areas to create a "Brewing Liquor" adding controlled amounts of "impurities" to get their exact recipe.
 
bobiscuit said:
How long should I leave film to dry before handling/scanning?

Until it feels dry? Or longer?
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I used to hang my wet negs above the shower tray, and when they appeared to be dry I would transfer them to the airing cupboard to hang and dry overnight.
I have tried printing or scanning the same evening but this can damage the negs so would not advise it unless you need to or have a drying cabinet.

If it's desperate, use a hairdryer on a low setting, but not too close, but still be careful as they take time to harden properly.
 
Check under the hanging clip, when there is no water under the clip then its dry.
 
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