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How Do You Dry Your Negatives?

  
 
bjhurley
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p.2 #1How Do You Dry Your Negatives?
Kascade7 wrote:
Kentmere 400 is brutally curly


That's so weird; I've shot a lot of it (mostly in 120) and it has always dried perfectly flat.
Mar 13, 2026 at 03:21 AM
Kascade7
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p.2 #2How Do You Dry Your Negatives?
I don't know...mine was 120 too. No such problem with Ilford B&W or Tri-x.
Mar 15, 2026 at 06:14 AM
bjhurley
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p.2 #3How Do You Dry Your Negatives?
Kascade7 wrote:
I don't know...mine was 120 too. No such problem with Ilford B&W or Tri-x.


What I've been noticing is that film has a tendency to curl more in winter than summer; I run a shower to humidify the bathroom but it's really dry here in winter and I suspect the film ends up drying too rapidly and that may explain the curling and cupping I've been seeing this winter. I shot all my Kentmere 400 in 120 during the summer and it always dried flat. But I even had cupping on two rolls of Delta 400 this winter.
Mar 15, 2026 at 07:23 AM
Desmolicious
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p.2 #4How Do You Dry Your Negatives?
bjhurley wrote:
Kascade7 wroteKentmere 400 is brutally curly
That's so weird; I've shot a lot of it (mostly in 120) and it has always dried perfectly flat.


Yeah, always totally flat for me too.
Mar 15, 2026 at 11:54 AM
 


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lakatua
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p.2 #5How Do You Dry Your Negatives?
I dry my negatives in a small half bathroom with a shower. Before hanging them, I run the shower for a few minutes to steam the room and knock down any airborne dust. I also bring in a space heater with the fan on and keep the shower curtain drawn to hold in warmth — especially helpful in winter since the room is in a cool basement. With this setup I get very minimal dust, processing 4–6 rolls a week on average.

A couple of processing steps that help: I do a two-minute one-shot Perma Wash before my final five-minute rinse, followed by a one-minute Photo-Flo bath using distilled water. My negatives dry evenly without residue or leftover fixer, and streaking has become very infrequent — when it does happen, I think it's usually the result of poorly spooled film on the reel rather than the wash process.
Mar 16, 2026 at 12:29 AM
ssquires4
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p.2 #6How Do You Dry Your Negatives?
Photoflow, and then hang them in the shower after you've run it. Don't forget them and immediately sleeve them after about 2 hours, and you're golden.

Also you can always use a scanner with digital ICE/dust removal
Mar 20, 2026 at 11:12 AM
retrofocus
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p.2 #7How Do You Dry Your Negatives?
My experience - as far away as possible from a heating/AC vent. In my current case, this is clean basement and simply hanging from a rack where there is not too much air movement. This is actually working better than in shower which is closer to an air vent. And make sure your heater/AC unit is equipped with a newer filter in any case.
Mar 21, 2026 at 03:25 PM
retrofocus
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p.2 #8How Do You Dry Your Negatives?
ssquires4 wrote:
Photoflow, and then hang them in the shower after you've run it. Don't forget them and immediately sleeve them after about 2 hours, and you're golden.

Also you can always use a scanner with digital ICE/dust removal


I found Fotoflow more of a debit than benefit. Got much better results just from rinsing in the end with distilled water and shaking off droplets before unwinding from the reel. And digital dust removal only works for color negatives/positives but not for B&W.
Mar 21, 2026 at 03:27 PM


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