The Secret Behind Cleaning Old Film!
There are many pitfalls when deciding how to clean a material as delicate as film. Many of the cleaning chemicals and tools you have around the house already if used could cause irreversible damage. Here are our top 3 tips!
Be very careful with compressed air of any type. Compressed air from a machine or even a canister of compressed air can often be too strong. Canister compressed air that people often use on keyboards also contain several added chemicals and the temperature of the air output can vary wildly. For that reason we recommend a manual Rocket Bulb Blower (either a professional photo one or like the one you still have in storage that was used in a baby’s nose!)
If dust does not come off with the blower you may want to resort to a Microfiber and anti-static cloth. After the dust and small debris are gone move on to a clean microfiber cloth. This will help to eliminate any fingerprints. Be careful not to push too hard and use small circular movements. After the microfiber wipe down you should use an anti-static cloth or ultra-fine bristled anti-static brush. This will discharge any static electricity that has built up on the slide/film that could attract more dust.
Cleaning chemicals should be a last resort. While grabbing your trusty Windex might seem tempting stay away from regular household cleaners as well as water or anything water based. Using any kind of liquid is not the ideal solution but there are specialized liquid film cleaners that you can buy from a trusted photo supply retailer such as B&H Photo. We recommend using PEC-12 and non-static q-tip to carefully remove any non-water stain on the emulsion. Just be sure to follow the instructions carefully.
Unfortunately cleaning slides and film the right way takes some specialized equipment that’s why it is important to know the do’s and don’ts. If you don’t want to do the required work to prepare your media for digitization that is OK! Just contact us and we can clean them and scan them for you.
