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  #1  
Old 5th June 2012, 07:31 PM
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kennethcooke kennethcooke is offline
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Default Film Squeegees- for or against

I have just discovered track lines on a processed roll of Rollei Retro 100 which is a little annoying. Should I go out and buy a new pair or am I better dipping my fingers into Ilfotol and running them down the film?
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Old 5th June 2012, 07:47 PM
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Hi Kenneth,

After asking a very similar question a few months ago ( to squeegee or not to squeegee ) in the main the responses tended to point to not touching the film with anything while wet. I must admit that is what I have done since then, and the results seem fine to me.

So in my humble opinion, I wouldn't bother with a new squeegee. If nothing touches the film, nothing can mark it.

Not sure if that helps you or not.

Ian
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Old 5th June 2012, 08:11 PM
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Carl V Carl V is offline
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I have never used a squeegee with film. When I was being taught darkroom work many years ago, my teacher (the manager of the shop where I worked) always recommended never to touch the film and have followed his advice to this day.
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Old 5th June 2012, 08:23 PM
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when I use squeegees I always soak them in the wetting agent with my film and always run my finger down the blades to test for anything stuck on them, and after use I rinse them .
I have never had any problems with them this is the only way that I can avoid drying marks .
other people have other opinions on them, but what ever suits you is the way to go .
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Old 5th June 2012, 08:29 PM
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I acquired a squeegee and gave it a go with a roll. Like you, despite washing and cleaning it thoroughly, ended up with streaks and scratches down the film.

Now, I squeegee the top inch where the clip's going to go through, and leave the rest alone (I found that if I didn't squeegee the top bit and just spiked it with the clip, water would pool up there and it'd leave marks as gravity did its thing during drying).
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Old 5th June 2012, 08:49 PM
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I give all my films a final rinse in distilled water with a wetting agent added (Ilfotol). Give the reel a few shakes to get rid of most of the water, and then hang to dry. No squeegee, no fingers.

A tissue can be used to touch the edge of the film where any water is pooling.
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Old 5th June 2012, 08:55 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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I used to use a squeegee and never had a problem but lately I have used the inside of my index and second fingers. There really isn't anything in the inside of fingers that can scratch. Well I can't think of a profession that creates skin rough enough on the inside of your fingers

With squeegees the only thing I can add to what has been said is that rubber eventually goes hard and cracks. I wonder if this isn't the cause of sudden unexpected scratches when the user has done everything else right.

So every so often squeegees needs replacing.

Mike
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Old 5th June 2012, 09:26 PM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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I do basically the same as Mike in the post above.

I too used to use a squeegee for years with no problems or scratches on my negatives.

As the squeegee began to wear though and after reading about other peoples problems, I stopped using it = just in case I had been lucky up until then!

I now add wetting agent, soak, then shake the spiral before hanging the film up to dry. I then run my two fingers down the film, after dipping them into the wetting agent first.

Recommended by B/W magazine some time back, is 'Tentenal Mirasol 2000 Antistatic.' As my last bottle of Ilford's Ilfotol was just running out I thought I'd give it a go and yes, it does the job really well and stops those limescale deposits that you get in hard water areas some how. It was a bit more expensive than Ilford's when I bought it, but definitely worth it.

Terry S
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Old 5th June 2012, 09:34 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike O'Pray View Post
I used to use a squeegee and never had a problem but lately I have used the inside of my index and second fingers. There really isn't anything in the inside of fingers that can scratch. Well I can't think of a profession that creates skin rough enough on the inside of your fingers

With squeegees the only thing I can add to what has been said is that rubber eventually goes hard and cracks. I wonder if this isn't the cause of sudden unexpected scratches when the user has done everything else right.

So every so often squeegees needs replacing.

Mike
You know what film drying marks are? When your squeegee dries out the same happens. i.e. you get mineral deposits(crystals) on it and they don't dissolve again without prolonged soaking. A quick dip or rinse in water doesn't remove them. They scratch film.
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Old 6th June 2012, 01:20 AM
AlanJones AlanJones is offline
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I use Ilfotol and have not experienced any problems using tap water for 35mm. But having developed my first medium format film since moving here, there is a problem a problem and put this down to the film being wider. I am very mindful of the problems of touching wet film but did buy a squeegee which I am loathe to use.

Now living in a hard water area, I shall be using de-ionised water from now on.
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