Cleaning 35mm Slides, 35mm Film, 35mm Negatives and Other Films
Usually, a slide cleaning project will amount to a lot of effort just to move the dirt around on the slide. Take into consideration that the film is stuck in a recessed area of the slide carrier. You really can't effectively remove the dirt no matter how much cleaning fluid that you use. You are mainly just moving it to the edges of your film. In order to really clean the film, you should peal the cardboard carrier apart and take the film out and clean it that way. That is the only way that you will be able to get all the dirt off the film. If you have hundreds of or thousands of slides, this is not very practical. If you are determined to clean your 35mm slides, we can recommend some products that might work for you.
We see slides, every day, that would be greatly improved with a simple
light brushing with a very soft cloth. We would recommend the Fellows
"Perfect Clean" cloth simply because it works good and not because we have compared it to similar products. We do not sell it so
please do not call to ask us. (You can purchase these cloths at
OfficeMax or other office supply stores, among others. You will have to
be the judge as to whether this is a good cleaning method for your
slides. You have to be careful that there is nothing abrasive on the
film or you will scratch it. Just imagine if there were sand on the film
and it wouldn't matter how soft your cloth was. It is good for brushing
off loose dirt but don't scrub with it. Do a test on one of your slides
that may not be one that you will miss if it gets damaged.
35mm Slides and Photo Scanning Costs 1-200 scans =50 cents per scan 201-400 scans = 45cents per scan 401 and up = 39 cents per scan $20 minimum scanning charge. 4" x 6" Prints made from the scans are 49 cents each. See our scanning estimator page. |
Anti-Static, Film Cleaning "Tiger Cloth™" from Kinetronics
Another good slide and film cleaning cloth would be the Anti-Static "Tiger Cloth™" from Kinetronics
The Kinetronics ASC-BP is an anti-static, microfiber cloth that has been specifically engineered for cleaning photographic films. The 10" x 18" (250mm x 450mm) orange cloth has stripes of effective conductive fibers knit every 1/8" or 4mm that dissipate or drain off static charges.
The Kinetronics ASC-BP is not wet or "soggy" and exposure to air won’t dry it out. The ultra soft cloth is so gentle you’ll feel comfortable using it on sensitive negatives and transparencies. Hundreds of thousands of small pockets in the microfiber cloth aggressively capture the dust and dirt from the film. You can also get these cloths from Adorama.com.
If you are determined to do the slide cleaning, never clean film with a water based cleaner or water . Water will emulsify the dyes on the film and you will rub the image right off the film.
Use a cleaner made for film. Naphtha can be used, as can pure alcohol. Avoid rubbing alcohol since it often contains water. The fumes are dangerous so use with proper ventilation. Film cleaner can be applied with a clean soft cotton cloth. Use a soft fabric combined with very light pressure to avoid creating scratches. If the contamination or residue is actually embedded in the emulsion, cleaners won't solve the problem.
Below, you will see an example of slide cleaning gone bad. This customer would have been better off to leave the slide alone than to ruin it. Look at the outer edges to see what the center looked like before the "cleaning."
Some people use Kodak Film Cleaner which contains heptane and 1,1,2 trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane. You can moisten surgical cotton or an old cotton t-shirt with this cleaner and gently draw it across the slide or negative. Let the cleaner evaporate and blow off any cotton fibers with compressed photographic gas (e.g. Dust-Off). You should be able to get the liquid cleaner and compressed gas at any good camera store.
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Products
that you can use to clean your 35mm slides.
Please note that Old Photo does not sell any of these products.
Rexton film cleaner is a time-tested, neutral
pH (acid-free) effective liquid cleaner that
safely removes: fingerprints, grease ...
EDWAL
Anit-Stat Film Cleaner
4 oz bottle
Safely cleans and lubricates color and B/W film.
Makes them static-free and dust resistant. Safe
for use with acetate and polyester film ...
There are many places on the internet that sell
PEC-12 and its related products.
Just do a search in Google.
Since 1983, PEC-12, Photographic Emulsion Cleaner has been trusted by the world's most prestigious photographers, labs, museums and publishers. Not only does PEC-12 routinely save many of their most valuable images, but it is the ONLY archival cleaner available. PEC-12 is a non-water based film and print cleaner which removes virtually all non-water based stains from color and B&W slides, negatives and prints. PEC-12 removes grease pencil, adhesive residue, finger oils, ball-point pen, fungus, smoke & soot damage, laser separation oil and most permanent inks. Containing no water, PEC-12 dries instantly with no emulsion swelling and leaves no residue.
A single 4 ounce bottle will cost about $11 or so.
PEC-12 is a waterless Photographic Emulsion Cleaner which is
suitable for use on most film and print emulsions. It is a blend of
organic hydrocarbon solvents with a neutral pH and is free from
chlorofluorocarbons and chlorinated hydrocarbons. It dries
instantly, leaves no residue and meets archival needs. Because it
contains no water, PEC-12 will not cause emulsion swelling,
tackiness, water marks or other damage associated with re-washing.
If one pass with the cleaner and the pad does not remove the dirt,
then you may have a water based stain and you can't remove it with
this cleaner.
PEC-PADs
are a unique blend of fibers especially designed for photographic
applications. PEC*PADs are smooth and soft . . . making them
nonabrasive, strong and lint free. PEC-PADs can be safely used on
all hardened photographic emulsions, including films and papers.
Extreme care must be used with 35mm film, since these films are very
easily scratched.
A pack of 100 4" x 4" Pec-Pads will cost about $7.
A
Kit of the PEC-12 and the PEC-PADs will cost about $17 each.
The PEC-12 company recommends using each pad only for one swipe on a piece of film. That is so that you will not be wiping the dirt back on to the film. You could rotate the pad in order to get more efficient use of the pad on more than one film.
Question:
Your site is very informative...Thanks!
You give instructions for cleaning your own slides...how do you charge per slide
when you clean them?
I have maybe 200 slides at the most that I would consider digitizing...They've
been in plastic page protectors in a notebook for 25-30 years and I realize that
I would need to repackage them for shipping to you, but if I'm going to let you
clean them, I guess I wouldn't bother with that...Thanks in advance for your
time and attention to my question.
Carole
Answer:
Carole,
YOU WROTE:
how do you charge per slide when you clean them?
REPLY:
We don't clean them. The only way to properly clean the film would be to take it
out of the cardboard or plastic holder and wipe the film with film cleaner. If
you try to use film cleaner on a 35mm slide, basically all you are doing is
moving the dirt around because you can't wipe it off since the edges of the
holder catch the dirt. You could try blotting the film off but that is not going
to remove all of the dust.
I would suggest that you take advantage of our offer to
scan ten of your slides and make a DVD playable slide show of them for free
and see what they look like. They may turn out much better than you imagine.