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  #11  
Old 11th December 2020, 01:23 PM
RickEmmanuel RickEmmanuel is offline
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In past years, for me, washing the negative roll was problematic. The shiny side would often become streaky from the salt residue in my local water supply. So, I resorted to boiling a large pan of water for an hour and decanting the salts off. Yet now, in recent years the Lancashire water supply has been as pure as can be. After 'washing' - which equates to dunking the spiral of film up and down in the open tank, about 20 times in about 5 changes of tap water - I Photo Flo for a minute or two; shake of as much water as I can then wipe the shiny side across a reel of kitchen roll, held between my knees. No scratches and importantly no salt rings or streaks. Then I hang up the length of film in a cupboard over night.
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  #12  
Old 11th December 2020, 03:23 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Not at all relevant to the topic but the OP, The Wellington, only appears to have made that one post in early August and then has not participated since.

He may not be the first to have only posted once but usually the "one-offs" tend to be speculative posts from those who may be wondering whether to take the hobby of film up at all and to that extent I can understand one post only but The Wellington had some experience

It always leaves me wondering

Mike
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  #13  
Old 11th December 2020, 04:26 PM
EdmundH EdmundH is offline
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If I’m not in a hurry for the negatives I will often leave them soaking for 5 mins or so between water changes. I find that this removes a lot of the pink/ purple tinge in certain b/W films.


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  #14  
Old 11th December 2020, 09:29 PM
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dsallen dsallen is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike O'Pray View Post
Given the relatively low price of water and the quantities were are talking about there would seem to be a logic in the question that the late Roger Hicks used to pose when the question of the Ilford method arose as it often did on forums which is: Why would llford take the gamble of advocating a washing regime in writing if it knew it carried risks and it had any evidence that extra dumps are likely to improve matters? My own additional comment now: "Would this not be the equivalent of Ilford shooting itself in the foot"

I would have thought that the Ilford method has been around long enough by now for the signs of its flaws, if there are any, to be now beginning to show in damage to negatives

I cannot swear on a stack of bibles that I definitely never exceeded the number of dumps in the Ilford method in my early days when whatever was written by the maker was my bible but I strongly suspect that a number of my early home processed films were washed with the 5, 10 and 20 inversions then dump routine.

I can see no deterioration in those negatives as yet but only 15 years maximum have passed and in terms of negatives this may only constitute "early days"

I do wonder if my extra dumps are not the result of believing that a few more dumps cannot hurt placing me in the ultra conservative group of the human race where the brain as a result of nature or nurture does not let me rest easy unless I do something extra to enable my brain to remain untroubled. I belong to the " one extra dump for luck or just in case" category of temperament.

Mike
The Ilford film washing method was developed at a time of severe drought in the UK.

My father tested the system when it was first publicised and found that it was not 100% accurate. Following some tests he concluded that the system worked perfectly BUT only when the film was removed (placed in a holding jug of water) and the tank cleaned before returning the spirals and washing the film. As someone who retailed materials from Ilford, my father asked one of the reps to check with the technicians if they had indeed removed the film and cleaned the tank / moved the film to a clean tank. The rep visited a couple of weeks later and confirmed that they had indeed moved the film to a clean tank when working out the washing sequence.

Ever since then, I have (for more than 40 years) always followed the following sequence:
  • Removed spirals from tank and place in a jug of water at the correct (20˚C) temperature.
  • Thoroughly wash all parts of the tank.
  • Add water to the tank and replace the films.
  • Pour out the water.
  • Pour in water, invert 10 times and pour out water.
  • Pour in water, invert 10 times and pour out water.
  • Pour in water, invert 20 times and pour out water.
  • Pour in water, invert 20 times,
  • Remove spirals and place in jugs with water and wetting agent.
  • After a minimum of 2 minutes, remove film, attach clips, pour water from jug down both sides of the film
  • Hang to dry.
As someone who also does individual teaching, I regularly test all of my processing methods to ensure that my students receive accurate and up-to-date information. I can assure everyone that the above washing sequence has always delivered negatives that are thoroughly clean.

Bests,

David.

Note: my temporary website address is: http://dsallen.carpentier-galerie.de
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  #15  
Old 12th December 2020, 01:43 PM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike O'Pray View Post
I do wonder if my extra dumps are not the result of believing that a few more dumps cannot hurt placing me in the ultra conservative group of the human race where the brain as a result of nature or nurture does not let me rest easy unless I do something extra to enable my brain to remain untroubled. I belong to the " one extra dump for luck or just in case" category of temperament.

Mike
I've found it amusing re-reading this thread and I'm sure the majority of us add on another rinse or two - 'just to be on the safe-side.'

Recently, whilst printing some of my negatives from the early 1980's, when I restarted in the darkroom in earnest, I also carried this maxim across to my developing of films as well. 'Just another minute of development will do no harm - just to be on the safe-side.' I think I was also a bit liberal with my temperatures as well, with me ending up with rather dense, but printable, negatives.

I'm a bit more careful these days and my more recent negatives print much easier - the majority of the time...

Terry S
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  #16  
Old 17th February 2021, 02:54 PM
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Bob Bob is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by funkyfreshmix View Post
Does anyone actually use the Ilford method ?

It feels rather light on the water changes.
Well, you have to remember that a small (very, very, very small) amount of residual fixer in the emulsion is actually beneficial to the archival qualities. Ilford have done this under laboratory conditions many years ago and measured residual fixer to be at suitable levels.

Having said that, I am one of those who give another couple of rinses "just to be sure" . Materials have changed over the years and it is not clear if they have verified this process under modern materials and conditions.

I now have temperature-controlled water in my darkroom so I can set it to 20C and just stick a hose in the tank now to save my time.
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  #17  
Old 17th February 2021, 04:27 PM
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Martin Aislabie Martin Aislabie is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by funkyfreshmix View Post
Does anyone actually use the Ilford method ?

It feels rather light on the water changes.
I'm sure Ilford know EXACTLY what they are doing and if they say process X works, then process X will work.

However, I am also sure far more people are like Bob, follow the Ilford method but then add a couple more on just in case.

Personally, I knowingly over wash my negatives because it saves me having to do a lot of very boring tests for residual hypo across a wide range of wash water temperatures.

Martin
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