Cleaning old 35mm slides
 

This question has probably been asked a thousand times but here goes.

I just bought a Plustek 7500ISE scanner to scan my dad's old slides. As I
peeked at a few, they look fairly dirty. How do I clean those up? Obviously
not with water (the cardboard holder wouldn't last long and water might
damage the slide itself).

So what is the best way to clean those? Any particular product/method?

Thanks a lot!

Marc

Cleaning old 35mm slides
 

On 1/10/2009 11:04 AM Marc Bouchard spake thus:

This question has probably been asked a thousand times but here goes.

I just bought a Plustek 7500ISE scanner to scan my dad's old slides.
As I peeked at a few, they look fairly dirty. How do I clean those
up? Obviously not with water (the cardboard holder wouldn't last long
and water might damage the slide itself).

So what is the best way to clean those? Any particular product/method?

Yes, but you can't get it anymore. I have a small bottle of Kodak's film
cleaner that I've used to clean slides. It's nasty
stuff--trichloreth-something, probably been banned for some time now,
but it does a great job cleaning film. You very carefully apply it with
a moistened cotton swab and it lifts dirt, etc., off the slide.

Dunno if any kind of substitute is made. Anyone? I'd like to get some
for when my little bottle runs out.

Oh, and before you use the cleaner, you want to blow off as much loose
dirt as you can; a blower brush is good, as someone else suggested.
Gently is the key word here.

So much for my never posting anything relevant here, by the way.


--
Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the
powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.

- Paulo Freire

Cleaning old 35mm slides
 

On Sat, 10 Jan 2009 18:01:45 -0800, David Nebenzahl
wrote:

On 1/10/2009 11:04 AM Marc Bouchard spake thus:

This question has probably been asked a thousand times but here goes.

I just bought a Plustek 7500ISE scanner to scan my dad's old slides.
As I peeked at a few, they look fairly dirty. How do I clean those
up? Obviously not with water (the cardboard holder wouldn't last long
and water might damage the slide itself).

So what is the best way to clean those? Any particular product/method?

Yes, but you can't get it anymore. I have a small bottle of Kodak's film
cleaner that I've used to clean slides. It's nasty
stuff--trichloreth-something, probably been banned for some time now,
but it does a great job cleaning film. You very carefully apply it with
a moistened cotton swab and it lifts dirt, etc., off the slide.

Dunno if any kind of substitute is made. Anyone? I'd like to get some
for when my little bottle runs out.

The banned product was Trichloroethane. Isopropanol alcohol, which is
available in any drugstore, is the easiest to get, least expensive
substitute. Not as effective, but it does work and you can get it.


--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

Cleaning old 35mm slides
 

"tony cooper" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 10 Jan 2009 18:01:45 -0800, David Nebenzahl
wrote:

On 1/10/2009 11:04 AM Marc Bouchard spake thus:

This question has probably been asked a thousand times but here goes.

I just bought a Plustek 7500ISE scanner to scan my dad's old slides.
As I peeked at a few, they look fairly dirty. How do I clean those
up? Obviously not with water (the cardboard holder wouldn't last long
and water might damage the slide itself).

So what is the best way to clean those? Any particular product/method?

Yes, but you can't get it anymore. I have a small bottle of Kodak's film
cleaner that I've used to clean slides. It's nasty
stuff--trichloreth-something, probably been banned for some time now,
but it does a great job cleaning film. You very carefully apply it with
a moistened cotton swab and it lifts dirt, etc., off the slide.

Dunno if any kind of substitute is made. Anyone? I'd like to get some
for when my little bottle runs out.

The banned product was Trichloroethane. Isopropanol alcohol, which is
available in any drugstore, is the easiest to get, least expensive
substitute. Not as effective, but it does work and you can get it.


--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

Adorama has this:
Edwal Anti -Stat Film Cleaner, for Black & White and Color Films, 4
Oz...
Adorama

Cleaning old 35mm slides
 

Marc Bouchard wrote:
This question has probably been asked a thousand times but here goes.

I just bought a Plustek 7500ISE scanner to scan my dad's old slides. As I
peeked at a few, they look fairly dirty. How do I clean those up? Obviously
not with water (the cardboard holder wouldn't last long and water might
damage the slide itself).

So what is the best way to clean those? Any particular product/method?

For *very* dirty or important slides you can try the radical method (at
your own risk!):

Take them out of their holders, gently wash in a dishwashing liquid or
baby shampoo solution (preferably stuck into film developing reels),
rinse very well and do a last wash with very dilute Photo-flo or baby
shampoo to prevent drying spots. Hang to dry (in reel, if available, or
by corner).
Do not soak for a long time (hours).
I have also run them through alcohol before (and sometimes instead of)
the water wash with no adverse effects.

This has successfully worked for me with a number of fairly modern E6
slides (Fuji, Kodak).
You might want to try it on some disposable examples of the batch to see
if it is safe.
Again, it is potentially high-risk, so proceed carefully.

Cleaning old 35mm slides
 

Marc Bouchard wrote,on my timestamp of 11/01/2009 6:04 AM:
This question has probably been asked a thousand times but here goes.

I just bought a Plustek 7500ISE scanner to scan my dad's old slides. As I
peeked at a few, they look fairly dirty. How do I clean those up? Obviously
not with water (the cardboard holder wouldn't last long and water might
damage the slide itself).

So what is the best way to clean those? Any particular product/method?


Glanz Film Cleaner,
Film and Video Extras Pty Ltd,
2.20 York Road,
Ingleburn, NSW, 2565,
Australia,
Ph: 61-2-96183104,
Fax:61-2-98292835
low voice
it's isopropanol, and it works a treat for old slides!
/low voice

Cleaning old 35mm slides
 

Marc Bouchard wrote:
This question has probably been asked a thousand times but here goes.

I just bought a Plustek 7500ISE scanner to scan my dad's old slides. As I
peeked at a few, they look fairly dirty. How do I clean those up? Obviously
not with water (the cardboard holder wouldn't last long and water might
damage the slide itself).

So what is the best way to clean those? Any particular product/method?

If the scanner has ICE it may do well in 'removing' most of the dirt in
the image.

I've cleaned negatives with heavily diluted dishwasher soap. Rubbed
with the tip of my finger (gently) and then rinsed. With cardboard
holders you'd need to remove them and then remount in new holders.

(Note: When I go through slides I throw away the worst ones by popping
the film out of the slide holder. So I've got a lot of empty plastic
slide holders lying around to use for this sort of thing.)


--
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-- r.p.d.slr-systems: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpdslrsysur.htm
-- [SI] gallery & rulz: http://www.pbase.com/shootin
-- e-meil: Remove FreeLunch.
-- usenet posts from gmail.com and googlemail.com are filtered out.

Cleaning old 35mm slides
 

On 1/10/2009 6:55 PM tony cooper spake thus:

On Sat, 10 Jan 2009 18:01:45 -0800, David Nebenzahl
wrote:

On 1/10/2009 11:04 AM Marc Bouchard spake thus:

This question has probably been asked a thousand times but here goes.

I just bought a Plustek 7500ISE scanner to scan my dad's old slides.
As I peeked at a few, they look fairly dirty. How do I clean those
up? Obviously not with water (the cardboard holder wouldn't last long
and water might damage the slide itself).

So what is the best way to clean those? Any particular product/method?

Yes, but you can't get it anymore. I have a small bottle of Kodak's film
cleaner that I've used to clean slides. It's nasty
stuff--trichloreth-something, probably been banned for some time now,
but it does a great job cleaning film. You very carefully apply it with
a moistened cotton swab and it lifts dirt, etc., off the slide.

Dunno if any kind of substitute is made. Anyone? I'd like to get some
for when my little bottle runs out.

The banned product was Trichloroethane. Isopropanol alcohol, which is
available in any drugstore, is the easiest to get, least expensive
substitute. Not as effective, but it does work and you can get it.

So is that what's in today's film cleaners (like Edwal)? I wonder how
good that is; the nice thing about TCE, as environmentally horrible as
it is, is that it evaporates so quickly. When you swab it on, you can
see it drying immediately after the swab. Wouldn't alcohol allow the
emulsion to get wet and damaged?


--
In order to embark on a new course, the only one that will
solve the problem: negotiations and peace with the Palestinians,
the Lebanese, the Syrians. And: with Hamas and Hizbullah.

Because it's only with enemies that one makes peace.

- Uri Avnery, Israeli writer and peace activist with Gush Shalom.
(http://counterpunch.org/avnery08032006.html)

Cleaning old 35mm slides
 

On Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:04:59 -0800, David Nebenzahl
wrote:

On 1/10/2009 6:55 PM tony cooper spake thus:

On Sat, 10 Jan 2009 18:01:45 -0800, David Nebenzahl
wrote:

On 1/10/2009 11:04 AM Marc Bouchard spake thus:

This question has probably been asked a thousand times but here goes.

I just bought a Plustek 7500ISE scanner to scan my dad's old slides.
As I peeked at a few, they look fairly dirty. How do I clean those
up? Obviously not with water (the cardboard holder wouldn't last long
and water might damage the slide itself).

So what is the best way to clean those? Any particular product/method?

Yes, but you can't get it anymore. I have a small bottle of Kodak's film
cleaner that I've used to clean slides. It's nasty
stuff--trichloreth-something, probably been banned for some time now,
but it does a great job cleaning film. You very carefully apply it with
a moistened cotton swab and it lifts dirt, etc., off the slide.

Dunno if any kind of substitute is made. Anyone? I'd like to get some
for when my little bottle runs out.

The banned product was Trichloroethane. Isopropanol alcohol, which is
available in any drugstore, is the easiest to get, least expensive
substitute. Not as effective, but it does work and you can get it.

So is that what's in today's film cleaners (like Edwal)? I wonder how
good that is; the nice thing about TCE, as environmentally horrible as
it is, is that it evaporates so quickly. When you swab it on, you can
see it drying immediately after the swab. Wouldn't alcohol allow the
emulsion to get wet and damaged?

Don't swab. Dab. A Q-Tip partially dipped in IA and dabbed lightly
on the slide and then the dry end moved gently around will not leave a
wet slide. Be generous with the Q-Tips, though. Don't reuse them so
many times that they carry more gunk than they clean.

Q-Tips sometimes leave cotton fibers on the slide, so blowing and
brushing with a photograph blower might be necessary.


--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida