8mm Forum: Cleaning Film?

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Posted by Mathew James (Member # 4581) on November 23, 2016, 07:14 AM:

Hi All,
The other day I received my first copy of a derann print.
I had heard so much positives about derann prints that i thought i'd have a look at one...Unfortunately, this particular film was 'filthy'. I have never had one like this to be honest out of my whole collection. Almost like some sort of 'film'(pardon the pun) all over the film [Smile]

Almost looks like water stained lime depositing or something, i can't explain it.
Anyways, i figure there is no way this is going in any of my machines, so i may as well try some things...if i wreck the film, well, i felt it is already wrecked... I don't have any film cleaner of any kind at all right now...so I just thought to use isopropl alchohol.
Is this a big mistake? Has anyone used this solution before for cleaning film? I was reel careful. I used these make-up cleaning pads my wife had around as they were super soft, and put the isopropyl(95%) on the pads and my son held one reel with a pencil in the hub, while my wife was on the other reel...I was in the middle cleaning and it dried as fast as i cleaned so we were able to do the whole reel in about 10-15 minutes.
WOW, WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!
I hope i didn't ruin anything, but at least i can see media again and it looks really clean. Ran the print and it was like new?
I just believe this would be a safe routine...
Is there a reason this worked for me, or did i just get lucky for this particular media?

PS: some of the residue left on the pads was almost RUST coloured???

[ November 23, 2016, 08:44 AM: Message edited by: Mathew James ]

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on November 23, 2016, 08:03 AM:

Isopropyl is a good cleaner of film, however it is also a good cleaner of stripe also!

Youre Derann film is an old one. Had this had been used on film produced in 1995 say, there is a good chance you would have removed so much oxide from the stripe,you may have partially errased the soundtrack in the very least case.

Always try to use a dedicated and tried and tested film cleaner on Super 8mm prints.
I prefer Filmguard but Film Renew is also well spoken of.

Posted by Mathew James (Member # 4581) on November 23, 2016, 08:19 AM:

Thanx Andrew....
I figured as much, but felt i had nothing to lose on this one.
The rust colour must be the oxide you refer to.... I think the mag strip help up well, but i understand what you mean. Thankfully it sounds good and looks much better.
I think because i wiped so fast and didn't soak it, i may have survived this one...
I wonder if mineral oil could work as well? We have an other product here in Canada called 'Simple Green' which is supposed to clean many things without any hazardous ingredients, and you can put it on plants and not harm them, they say... it makes me curious...
Here are the approximate ingredients according to the safety data sheet:
Water 84.8% ,
Ethoxylated Alcohol 5% ,
Sodium Citrate 5%
Tetrasodium N,N-bis(carboxymethyl)-L-glutamate 1% ,
Sodium Carbonate 1% ,
Citric Acid 1% ,
Isothiazolinone mixture 0.2% ,
Fragrance Proprietary Mixture 1% ,
Colorant
I'm daring today i guess until i get film renew in house [Smile]

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on November 23, 2016, 11:50 AM:

Hi Mathew,
The problem with alcohol is that it will leave the film very dry, in an unlubricated condition. This may cause the film to chatter in some projectors.
I have found that ArmorAll Protectant Wipes do a very good job of cleaning and lubricating my films. I have had many films that simply would not run without severe chatter, will then run beautifully after a single rewind of the film though an Armorall wipe.
My theory is that these wipes, that have kept the vinyl dash of my wife's 1994 Honda Accord looking like new in blazing Florida sun, will similarly protect and keep film supple and flexible, and free from shrinkage.

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on November 23, 2016, 03:33 PM:

If you want lube, just try FG!

Guaranteed to quieten your prints down in run like no other!

The difference between before and after is like night and day.

Posted by Mathew James (Member # 4581) on November 23, 2016, 03:34 PM:

It's a very good theory, and i wanna try it myself.
Thanx for that tip Paul!

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on November 23, 2016, 03:39 PM:

£45 -£50 a bottle and worth every single penny!! [Wink]

Posted by Mathew James (Member # 4581) on November 23, 2016, 04:00 PM:

Thanx Andrew for that tip as well. I totally didn't see your post above with the FG comment till now [Smile]

Where do you get yours from Andrew? I wonder if they would ship it to me here. I would love to try some as well. It would be interested to run a test of everything if i had the ability.
My other films could use a nice lube as well.

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on November 23, 2016, 04:02 PM:

Your a lot nearer to the origins of FG than we are Mathew that's for sure!

This forum is the very home of FG!! 😂😂😊

Posted by Jim Schrader (Member # 9) on November 23, 2016, 08:21 PM:

Matthew try Steve Osbourne he may carry it

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on November 24, 2016, 08:33 AM:

Andy, Where do you get it these days? It use to be PF

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on November 24, 2016, 08:43 AM:

Jack Roe cinema supplies.

I've placed the link on here and other forums many many times now Tom already. [Wink]

Posted by David Hardy (Member # 4628) on November 24, 2016, 09:01 AM:

Andrew I have just applied some FG to one of my older prints.
Yes it was very dirty and did a good job of cleaning the print.

As for black tramlines they are "slightly" less visible but I
can still see them.

The very same findings we had at the Cinema I worked in. [Wink]

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on November 24, 2016, 09:23 AM:

They have always made ALL but the most ingrained black base scratches invisible when I've cleaned film using it David.

I'd advise doing another slow run with it. I'd be surprised if all couldn't be made invisible.

Obviously it can do nothing for emulsion scratches or negative scratches, so if it is a b/ w print and falls into this category, it's there forever to see sadly.

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on November 24, 2016, 09:44 AM:

Steve Osborne sells Film Renew for US$24.95 per quart.
http://thereelimage.jimdo.com/our-web-showroom/

Posted by David Hardy (Member # 4628) on November 24, 2016, 11:46 AM:

Andrew it sure is B/W.
I tested it using that old Standard 8mm sound feature of
" RAMROD " I bought from Tom.

It did help with sound though. It was less wowy.
However some of the sound drag and waver is transferred from
the master used. So the music sounds ... " YUK ".

Maurice ... thanks for that information. Cheers.
[Smile]

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