[Leica] Drying Marks

["Anderson, Ferrel" <AndersonF@ria.army.mil>]

Martin:

I eradicated drying marks on negative strips by making  three, consecutive
one minute rinses in distilled water at the end of the washing step.  I then
attach hanging clamps at each end of the strip, shake as much water off as
possible, and hang it to dry, water drops and all.  I do not touch the film
with anything (once I scratched a strip of negatives by stripping it with my
fingers, which , by the way, I can never get clean enough!) after I clamp on
the hanging clamps.  I never use wetting agent.  It might take longer to
dry, but the negatives are sparkling clean with no scratches.  Another
benefit of this approach is that clean negatives do not contaminate glass
negative carriers.

Ferrel Anderson