I have a couple of 30, and 28 year old IB features that have tons of white shoe polish on the heads and tails of each reel. It amazingly doesent show on screen, but after the reel runs out, I have to clean chunks of polish off the gate, and all the guide rollers, not to mention the inside of the access door. You should see the snowstorm when the polish runs through. I dont want the polish to wedge on anything and scratch the film.

Any ideas how to get this junk off the film? My film cleaners dont seem to cut it, although, they do cut all the splicing tape residue.

 |  IP: Logged

When you get prints like I get sometimes, it takes you a half hour at every reel just to get the stick-umm from the masking tape off the film. If I don't, I risk brain wraps at the changeovers. Even on a Potts! Three feet of stick-umm is too much for any platter to handle! If used carefully, the film cleaner ("Edwahl" ??) gets off almost everything including the white gunk at the end of the reel. You just have to work an inch at a time and use a light touch. Otherwise you'll not only scratch the film but you'll have a big puddle of half-dissolved GOO all over your work table!

If you read the ingredients on the bottle, you'll see that most film cleaners are just 100% alcohol with a few additives like 'surfactants' and 'anti-static agents'

(If they aren't on the bottle, call the company and 'excercise your legal right to have an MSDS mailed to you'.)

I don't know what other people get but a few of the prints I get are pretty fouled up, sometimes. (Most of them are from New Yorker Films) The idea of home brewing the film cleaner is mostly just an emotional reaction that happens when you first open the can.

You've all experienced it.....
Rattle-Rattle..... "Stupid Can!"......
BAM!!! BAM!!! .... "Stupid can!!!"...
jerk -- pull.... "OUCH!"....
CREEEEEak!..... "Finally, It's open!"
... Rustle ... rustle... "Aw S***!!!... Who's the idiot that did this?!!!"

I was just thinking that there should be something I could use to get the bulk of the popcorn grease and other junk off the film before I try to build it up.