how long should film take to dry?

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I have just dev'd a roll of Adox CHS100:

Paterson FX-39
Water stop bath (flushed 3 times)
Fotospeed FX20 9:1 Fixer
10mins wash under running water

its currently hanging to dry, but how long before I should get my grubby mitts on it?

Last roll I did I used AcuLux, kodak stop and fotospeed fix, then a washed with a drop of washing up liquid in to break the surface tension, this left a film that was tacky and easily damaged on the emulsion side for a day.

So I washed in plain old tap water, just wondering at room temp how long should I leave it, the neg looks pretty good.
 
Depends on the ambient air humidity: leave it til it's fully dry and only touch the leader til you're sure.

Better to use a proper drying-cabinet (or failing that a warm, dry bathroom or closet). Takes about 30 mins at low-ish temperature and keeps dust off the emulsion while it's drying...
In humid rooms (like a warm, damp bathroom, where we seem to always try and dry stuff...lol) it can take all day if the humidity is high enough...

You were right the first time - the wetting agent should have no impact on drying time and will leave a lot less drying marks than plain tap-water, which is full of chalky crap...
 
no doubt when I go to scan them I'll see what Thames Waters' finest has left on them :) I'll add a dab of washing up liquid again next time.

They are in the dark room at work, so ambient room temp and pretty dry.

I'll go play with them after work at 5pm.
 
If you take the clips off and there is no water trapped underneath then they are pretty dry.
 
A tiny spot of washing up liquid in a big jug of water shouldn't hurt (although wetting agent is better)
One tip I was shown many years ago by an aged press photographer was to dip his films in meths, this displaces the water and evaporates quickly (he used to use Xray film dev and fix for speed as well)
If he was in a real hurry he'd light the vapour on the meths (DON'T TRY THIS PLEASE) the only time he demonstrated this to me he damm nearly burnt down the local museum (where we were) and I nearly wet myself laughing.
 
Last edited:
ah5168 said:
If you take the clips off and there is no water trapped underneath then they are pretty dry.
Click to expand...

clips???? I"m using a bent wire coat hanger and magnet stuck to the metalic ceiling tiles!

swanseamale47 said:
A tiny spot of washing up liquid in a big jug of water shouldn't hurt (although wetting agent is better)
One tip I was shown many years ago by an aged press photographer was to dip his films in meths, this displaces the water and evaporates quickly (he used to use Xray film dev and fix for speed as well)
If he was in a real hurry he'd light the vapour on the meths (DON'T TRY THIS PLEASE) the only time he demonstrated this to me he damm nearly burnt down the local museum (where we were) and I nearly wet myself laughing.
Click to expand...

Hmmmm. I wonder if propanol would work I have bloomin litres of that stuff in there.
 
....sometimes I used to use a hair dryer on the shiny side.
 
I think I'm going to have a go at making a drainpipe type film dryer as I don't really want film chemicals in the bathroom... just in case they mark it. They take good few hours just hung up and they're a cat hair/dust magnet while they're still sticky.
 
The normal drill was a well wrung out chamois leather, run down the film once on either side to remove the excess water then leave it hanging to dry.
 
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