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Topic: Twisty film soak in film renew?

Robert Lee
Film Handler

Posts: 70
From: San Francsico, CA, USA
Registered: Jan 2017

posted June 26, 2017 12:53 AM

I have a 16mm film that becomes twisty like Tweezlers as you pull it out of the reel. Will soaking it in film renew make it flat again?

When you project the film some parts of the frame can become out of focus.

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Terry Sills
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1423
From: Weymouth,Dorset,England
Registered: Oct 2012

posted June 26, 2017 02:10 AM

Robert
Unfortunately not. This is the first stage of the film degrading and there is no known cure. Is there an acidic smell, like vinegar, from the film? If so keep the film away from other films as this syndrome can spread and affect any other films you have.

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Gary Crawford
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 979
From: Manassas, VA. USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted June 26, 2017 03:32 PM

I've actually had good success with several twisty films. Winding down tails out and flipped so the sprocket holes are away from you....winding tight like that. immersing in Film Renew for as much as a month. then taking it out, drying it out....and in needed, repeat the process. I'd had some films that were so..warped, they would not run. And many of them I've at least kept runnable. As far as I know, there's no real cure for that vinegar chemical reaction, but I've kept films runnable for years beyond what many had told me. Just getting a few more runs out of them before they are inevitably beyond help. Of course, it's possible your film IS beyond help, but you have nothing to lose by trying to untwist it, at least enough to run it successfully.

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Bill Brandenstein
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1632
From: California
Registered: Aug 2007

posted June 27, 2017 05:17 PM

Just last week found an exception to this: film with scratch-guard coating on one or both sides will not flatten. So the Filmrenew method will help the emulsion resize to the shrunken base without damage, but plastic or shellac anti-scratch coatings ruin this altogether.

How to know? Soak a little piece in water and see if either side turns milky white. And if it does, you still can't scratch it, though you might be able to tear it!

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Adrian Winchester
Film God

Posts: 2941
From: Croydon, London, UK
Registered: Aug 2004

posted June 27, 2017 07:07 PM

Gary - could you please outline what you do to dry out a film and for how long? Do you (e.g.) hang the core over a rewinder? Presumably the saturation would leave it moderately wet, even after the drying?

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Adrian Winchester

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