# Water spots on my C41 negatives.



## darry85 (Jan 19, 2018)

So I just developed my first roll of c41 last night and it turned out great except for water spots all over the negatives. I want to develop a second roll tonight but I’m worried about more water spots.

 So, I didn’t use distilled water to mix the chemicals because I don’t recall the directions saying to do so and all the tutorials I saw people were doing it out of the tap. Would using distilled water to actually develop the roll help? Also, I didn’t use a squeegee. I used my 2 fingers to try to get as much water off and hung vertically to dry in my shower stall. I did do the stabilizer as the last step for 1 minute. Do I do a final rinse after that? 

Thanks so much. I just want to figure out what to do about these water spots!


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## john.margetts (Jan 19, 2018)

Within reason, the water you mix the chemicals with does not matter. What does matter is the final rinse. When you have finished rinsing the film, the film is wet (obviously) and if the rinse water is hard, the wet on the film is also hard and it is that final rinse water which causes the water spots. Two things you can easily do (no need for distilled water) is use a wetting agent in your final rinse so the wetness on the film is evenly spread over the film instead of in drops and the other thing is to use a squeegee to mostly dry the film after the rinse is done..

Some people will tell you horror stories about squeegees causing scratches but if you keep your kit clean and wash the squeegee immediately before using it you will be fine.


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## Light Guru (Jan 19, 2018)

Get yourself some Photo-Flo

Kodak  Photo-Flo 200 Solution (16 oz) 1464510 B&H Photo Video


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## Rick50 (Jan 19, 2018)

I use Distilled Water and LFN as a final rinse for B&W and C41. I do not use a squeegee and do not have water marks. 
Edwal LFN Wetting Agent for Black & White Film & EDLFN34!


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## webestang64 (Jan 19, 2018)

I've been using tap water and Photo-Flo since 1985 and NEVER used a squeegee, all my negs are fine.


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## darry85 (Jan 19, 2018)

Thanks all. I’ll have to get some photo flo. I thought the stabilizer had a wetting  agent in it?


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## jcdeboever (Jan 19, 2018)

I use a drop of dish soap in cold tap water. I am on a well too. No spots. I rinse mine for 10:30 minutes in running tap water prior. When that's up, I have a 800 ml of tap water and a drop of dish soap ready to go in, give it a good shake. I squeegee mine with my fingers currently as my hands are pretty well healed up. There are times when my hands get pretty beat up from mechanical stuff and this is not an option so I let them just hang dry, no spots. Photo flo would do the same thing, breaks the surface tension so the water sheets off the film. I forgot to add it once and won't make that mistake again. I ended up carefully using a micro fiber towel and my breath to clean up the negatives, worked well. I also wear powder free nitrate gloves when handling negatives. I found a place that sells box's of 3XL gloves that barely fit but do the trick.


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