Having a break from digital

[philipus]

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I find Ilford's wash method a bit strange and since I have a simple mind I never remember how many inversions I did last time. Instead I just fill the tank four-five times with tap water and invert it something like 20-30 times. Depends on how patient I am.

The final wash is in distilled water which I pour in a graduate, just enough to cover a film spiral.

I have stopped using Ilford's equivalent of Photoflo (forget what it's called now) because it leaves foam marks. To put the spirals, one by one, in distilled water, swirl them around a bit and then shake off excess water before running the spirals in a sallad spinner (yes), will remove virtually all water. Then I dry the film in my home-made (if ugly) film dryer. That way I get virtually no drying or foam marks at all on the films.

Edited March 4, 2020 by philipus

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[jmahto]

I have developed more than 50 rolls in last two years and have tried all possible washing and drying method (except film dryer). This is what I have settled on now. First two washes is with continuous inversions of 1 min each. After that I do 5 washes with simply swirling the roll in Paterson tank using central spindle. Then I do final wash with distilled water and few drops of Kodak photo flo. All at the same temperature. After that I take the reel out and tap it on table to get some water out. Then I remove the film carefully and hang it in the garage with small weighted clip at the bottom to keep it straight. This works well without any streak marks or dust.

Earlier I used to wash for longer time and dry it in dust free bathroom but now I see no difference compared to drying in garage where I do development as well. It is very convenient now to do everything in the same area.

What I have learned is that you have to find your own method which works for you.