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Dang! I was hoping that I'd dodged this bullet, but apparently not. All of the commercial films and about half of the home movies I recently recovered from my late aunt & uncle's house were on plastic spools in cardboard boxes. Two 200-ft. home movies, however, were on metal spools and stored in tightly closed metal cans. These two emitted a strong odor upon opening, but I didn't immediately associate it with the smell of vinegar. In fact, that same uncle was a private-practice radiologist whose office featured multiple x-ray machines and in-house film processing. The smell of these movies reminded me of the same chemical odor that I recalled from having broken bones x-rayed at his office as a kid. With no other frame of reference I was hoping that maybe this is simply what old films are supposed to smell like.
Still, I removed those films from the metal cans and quarantined them in a separate part of house, even though they show no signs of warping, shrinking, or spoking. This afternoon, I was going through some old 5-inch reel-to-reel audio tapes that had been kept in the same large shoebox as the films and also stored in the same type of metal cans. Several of these tapes are very old Scotch brand on an acetate-base and one of them exhibited that exact same odor, as well as obvious curling and spoking. The wraps have a distinctive polygon appearance on the reel instead of the smooth, round windings I'm accustomed to.
At least the films, unlike that audio tape, appear to be in the early stages. My original plan was to do nothing with these films until I cleaned & lubed them all with FG (still haven't gotten a reply to the email I sent Steve Osborne on 16 June), but now I'm wondering if there's anything else I need to do first, such as ordering molecular sieves, treating with baking soda, etc. Any advice and suggestions will be greatly appreciated!
Still, I removed those films from the metal cans and quarantined them in a separate part of house, even though they show no signs of warping, shrinking, or spoking. This afternoon, I was going through some old 5-inch reel-to-reel audio tapes that had been kept in the same large shoebox as the films and also stored in the same type of metal cans. Several of these tapes are very old Scotch brand on an acetate-base and one of them exhibited that exact same odor, as well as obvious curling and spoking. The wraps have a distinctive polygon appearance on the reel instead of the smooth, round windings I'm accustomed to.
At least the films, unlike that audio tape, appear to be in the early stages. My original plan was to do nothing with these films until I cleaned & lubed them all with FG (still haven't gotten a reply to the email I sent Steve Osborne on 16 June), but now I'm wondering if there's anything else I need to do first, such as ordering molecular sieves, treating with baking soda, etc. Any advice and suggestions will be greatly appreciated!
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