If you’re preparing to send in your old 8mm film reels to Legacybox for digitization and have noticed white or green flecks on your films, we have some bad news: you’ve got mold.
Movie film reels or cine films stored in dank, humid environments are very susceptible to mold and mildew growth.
Films can quickly become overgrown with mold spores, and once a layer of mold has settled on a film’s surface, the spores create enzymes that break down the sensitive cellulose, gelatin, and polyester in the film and destroy its image content.
If you have a serious mold problem in your film collection, you could potentially lose all or most of your footage.
If your film reels have been affected by mold growth, don’t lose hope just yet! It is possible to remove mold and successfully salvage and digitize your films, as long as the damage is not too extensive.
Film Cleaning Supplies You’ll Need
An uncleaned film reel will appear distorted and discolored after digitization, so in order to avoid this, make sure you clean your film reels well before getting them digitized and remove all visible signs of mold, dirt, lint, and dust!
Here are the supplies you’ll need in order to safely and thoroughly clean your film reels:
- Film viewer that allows you to wind the film into an empty take-up reel.
- Microfiber cleaning cloth
- Film cleaner
- Cotton gloves
How to Clean 8mm Film Before Digitizing
Follow these instructions to clean 8mm film. These steps will also work for DIY cleaning Super 8 and 16mm film.
1. Put your film reel on one side of the viewer, and a take-up reel on the other side. Carefully unwind a bit of the film while wearing cotton gloves and wind it onto the take-up reel.
2.Pour a small amount of the film cleaner solution onto the microfiber cloth. Wrap the wet cloth around a section of the film between the two reels and steadily hold it in place as you wind the film into the take-up reel.
This will make sure that every inch of film is coated with the cleaning solution, killing mold spores. Don’t forget to clean the ends and the sides of the film, also!
Once you have cleaned the entire reel, store the film in a dry, cold space. This should prevent further mold growth from occurring.
Tips for Cleaning 8mm Film
Of course, this cleaning method is not always foolproof. Cleaning films in this way, though, is your best bet in saving your films from further mold damage.
In many cases, the mold damage is too great to completely salvage the films, and sections of the full video may appear damaged, distorted, or dirty.
An alternative method to cleaning film is using isopropyl alcohol if it has at least 98 percent purity, otherwise it can dry and damage your film.
Also, other cleaning solutions like Filmguard and Filmrenew are said to fill in scratches on the emulsion without affecting film quality.
After cleaning your film reels, you are now prepared to send them in for professional digitization!
Film Transfer Services
The best way to preserve your films after cleaning them is to convert them to digital video. The older films get, the more susceptible they are to light, temperature, and humidity damage, and these factors can cause irreparable damage to motion picture films.
Digitizing films prevents these damages from occurring entirely so you and your family will be able to enjoy family films for years to come. Digitization services like Legacybox offer fast and affordable high-quality digitization that you can trust.
Knowing that your home movies are susceptible to all kinds of environmental damage, why risk it? Get your film reels digitized today.
