Cleaning 35mm slides

Dr Phred wrote:
On Mar 16, 6:55 am, Allen wrote:
JohnR66 wrote:
"Dr Phred" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a huge collection of 35 mm slides that were stored in vinyl
holders. They are kind of stuck in there. It seems the vinyl oozed
something onto the slides, and if you just yank the slide out, it
leaves a "water ring". I'm leaving the slides in there until I can
figure out how to get them out without damaging them. Any
suggestions?

The plasticizers used in many PVC products seem to reach out and
effect anything it is in contact with. A vinyl CD case I left on a
wood cabinet for a few weeks became glued to it. It turned the
finish into a sticky goo. Hopefully no permanent damage was made to
your slides.

In addition to the other advice, I'd add a wetting agent to the
wash to reduce spotting as the film dries. I used to process my own
slides and the wetting agent, Kodak Photo Flow in my case, was a
must.

Polypropylene or, if you want to spend some money, crystal clear
mylar sleeves are recommended.

John

Not about slides, but about insidious vinyl in general--
My wife had an elderly relative who died a few years ago. She had a
modest collection of LPs from the early days of that medium,
containing contemporary-for-the-time classical music; several of
these discs had become collectors' items. But--somewhere down the
line, someone had removed the discs from their sleeves and put them
in vinyl-covered wire racks. The plasticizer from the vinyl on the
racks had migrated to the discs and raised very large welts, just
the size and shape of the wire. Most were totally unplayable. And
then there is the reaction between vinyl and Xerox copies. Vinyl is
very good in its place, but that place is _not_ near other materials.
Allen

There was an HBO movie, Blue Vinyl, that exposed the tremendous danger
presented by the vinyl industry, every step of the way. It is a
wonderful material for things like pipes, but its production kills
people,

Producing food kills people. Producing _anything_ in any quantity kills
people. Just a fact of life--large scale industry has dangers resulting
from the scale.

and in the wrong place, it can be very destructive.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)