Wetting Agent For Film Developing
After washing its recommended that you soak your film in a wetting agent for a minute or two, this allows the water to slip off the film more easily which helps avoids drying marks.
All agents are similar, but if you had to chose one we’d go for Kodak Photo-Flo, it’s a handy size and good price. There is also Fotonal Wetting Agent, Tetenal Mirasol 2000 Antistatic Wetting Agent and Ilford Ilfotol Wetting Agent.
It will help your film to dry quickly and evenly. This will greatly reduce the risk of drying marks left on film after development. You should use it as a final rinse before you hang your film up to dry. It will allow the film to dry in a more uniform fashion and thus prevent the marks.
After development, stop, fix and wash, you simply leave your film in the agent for about a minute. You then take the film out, wipe off any excess and then hang it up to dry.
While it isn’t an essential step in developing film, it will make your life much easier when you come to scan or print your negatives. With a high dilution, a bottle will last you a long time. So, we think it’s worth the small extra cost.
