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Soaking? Never tried it. I would think that wouldn't be the best idea, since FilmGuard is intended to stay on the film and not evaporate. If you soaked a reel, I don't think you could possibly get enough gate tension to keep the picture steady, as it is so slick when applied normally the gate tension needs to be bumped up one or maybe two notches. The end result would be a print that was just too slick to run. Of course, you could always go back and clean some of the FilmGuard off with a dry cloth...but why bother?

For a curl problem, run your film through FilmGuard a few passes and wind it loosely in the opposite direction of the curl. For example, most collectors store their films right on the takeup reel. This is emulsion "in" and will produce a "base curl" where the film is arched outward on the base side. I have been able to rid prints of such curl by lubricating with FilmGuard and winding emulsion out loosely, then leave them alone for a month or two. Another tip...make sure the end of the film that was originally on the "core" is still on the core when rewound. Hence, if the film in question has been stored tails out, after you lubricate it make sure it is stored tails out...but emulsion out too. The curl will always be the worst at the core and by keeping the film wound in the same direction will help reverse the curl more evenly.

Now all I need is a bottle of FilmGuard.

The test run that I gave the the film cleaner got a lot of crud off the film. -- and that was DRY! I was suprised at how much crud came off a reel film that I *THOUGHT* I was doing a good job of keeping clean.

I feel pretty confident that I treat film pretty well. Here at Mercyhurst College, I have a lot more time to do things right. At my regular job, I have a lot of time pressure and although I TRY to keep the film clean I have to cut corners to keep up. (Also there are a few people who aren't as conscientious as they should be.)

That leaves me with two thoughts:

1) I guess I wasn't keeping the film as clean as I thought. I'll just have to redouble my efforts!

"If the film cleaner got that much dirt off by itself, how much is the FilmGuard going to get off that dry media can't?"

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It is very easy to mount a cleaner on the rewind bench between reels. Just build your print on large reels (preferably one 16,000 footer like I do) and then rewind through the cleaner, then load to platter. The only thing I do not like about this idea is if there is a lot of shipping dust, running through the high tension of a rewind bench is not in your film's best interest.

I think my warning of streaks the first show or two may be taken a little bit of too big a thing. It's a very minor thing. Just stick to doing it on your run through. If it really bothers you, load your print as normal and "speed wind" from platter to platter through the cleaner (mounted on the platter tree) once before you screen it. That works too, but again...not as effective as real time cleaning.

The only thing is that now, I get all these dirty, crummy prints and send them out all nice and clean! The NEXT guy doesn't have to worry about anything 'cuz I fixed up his print for him! (Assuming I did a good job of breaking down & stuff. -- Which I think I do)

If MORE people would use the stuff...
1)I would get a nice, clean print for a change!
2) I wouldn't have to worry about the first run-through as much.