Any tips for cleaning slides?

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Threeracers

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Mark
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Scanning some old slides and some look like they would benefit from a little cleaning - any tips would be appreciated!

TIA

Mark
 
The best stuff to get probably is some PEC-12 cleaning solution and some PEC pads, both are designed specifically for cleaning film but be careful as it is all too easy to overdo it and make the problem a lot worst.
 
s162216 said:
The best stuff to get probably is some PEC-12 cleaning solution and some PEC pads, both are designed specifically for cleaning film but be careful as it is all too easy to overdo it and make the problem a lot worst.
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:plusone: for PEC it's good stuff.
 
Many thanks, I will get some PEC.

That link is interesting as I have a solution here for cleaning vinyl records that is mostly isopropyl alcohol so I might try a little dab of that.

Mark
 
I think that so long as the isopropyl alcohol is >98% pure then you should be ok. I have used isopropyl alcohol to clean old slides that were covered in a great deal of mildew/fungus and they came up quite well. Isopropyl alcohol is much cheaper then PEC.
 
What about methylated spirits? I've usually got a load of it in the house for erm camping... honest.
 
As usual with rip off UK you can get PEC 12 a lot cheaper in the US but delivery costs ruin the deal.....cheapest I can find so far is firstcall at £15.49 for 4oz spray, but they rip you off by charging £7.99 to deliver it.
 
A little dab of Ronsonol lighter fluid was what we used in the lab years ago to clean both emulsion and base sides of reversal film with cotton buds.
 
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Bud said:
A little tip I was advised by the gentlemen at Peak Imaging, was to fog the base side of the film with my breath and wipe the silde with a clean cotton glove. To be fair, no real help for fungus, but can help with drying/final rinse residue and stubborn dust. A little dab of Ronsonol lighter fluid was what we used in the lab years ago to clean both emulsion and base sides of reversal film with cotton buds.
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Well before you posted:- And as I didn't care about some slides, tried fairy liquid and water, isoprophyl and lighter fuel.....well according to the net, water is no no but the film looks ok :shrug: and for isoprop I used too much and got a haze on the neg :eek: but it seems to have gone (well under electric light) and as you have mentioned the lighter fuel is best so far, and both chemicals should be used sparingly with a soft cloth or cotton bud.
 
There are different grades of Isopropyl alcohol available but it should mostly be safe with film most comercail film cleaners use it or Naptha bases ( which is pretty much lighter fuel)

Anchor Film cleaner has a good reputation as does KAMI RC2001 Film cleaner either is available from Haynes Graphic arts not especailly cheap but its in larger quantities so more economical than PEC.

I prefer Photex scanning wipes to the PEC pads myself
 
abbandon said:
There are different grades of Isopropyl alcohol available but it should mostly be safe with film most comercail film cleaners use it or Naptha bases ( which is pretty much lighter fuel)

Anchor Film cleaner has a good reputation as does KAMI RC2001 Film cleaner either is available from Haynes Graphic arts not especailly cheap but its in larger quantities so more economical than PEC.

I prefer Photex scanning wipes to the PEC pads myself
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Wouldn't soft toilet paper do ? But for a lens, I huff on the lens and wipe with a soft photography brush, and would huff on the shiny side of film and use a cotton handkerchief, but the emulsion has always been the problem with any film, so we all have to do it right.
 
Most of the deadicated products claim to be "lint free" the thought of how toilet paper will shed and break up is near causing a cold sweat.

I can't think of a cheaper alternative I would be happy to try, if you look at things like screen wipes they often contain more than just isopropyl acohol and this is usually in solution too.
 
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