If you have lots of 35MM slides or negatives to scan, some planning and preparing of the slides in advance will make the project go much more quickly and can result in higher quality scans.

Slides and negatives often have fine dust and debris stuck to the film surface. These tiny specks, stains and spots can be microscopic, but when magnified by high resolution film scanning, they can be troublesome.

Unless the slides are very dirty the only cleaning that is needed before scanning is a quick blast of compressed air. If the dust particles are

persistent you can use an Anti-static brush to loosen the dust particles before hitting them with the compressed air again. If you don't have an air compressor and only have a few slides to scan you can use cans of compressed air. But if you have lots of slides then you would be better off investing in a nice air compressor. The Sprint Jet is a nice quiet compressor that works great in an indoor environment. I recommend setting the pressure to 30PSI, if you set it too high you risk blowing the film out of the slide mount.

If your slides are exceptionally dirty or have grime and finger prints in the emulsion then you may consider giving them a solvent bath. What you need to do is de-mount the slides and then dish soak them in a solution of Kodak E-6 Final Rinse that's been warmed to about 90-100 degrees F. Let the slides soak in the solution and their emulsion swell up (it turns pasty-gray in color). With your finger tips fully moistened with the same solution, gently -- very gently -- rub off any grit or grime from the emulsion side. Grime on the base side most likely will have sloughed off just with the primary soaking. The finger prints? Well, the Final Rinse solution will literally "swell out" the marks to the point of completely disappearing. After they are clean, hang them until they have completely dried. Then mount them in new slide mounts and scan, you will be amazed at the difference.

TIP: To protect the film, use cotton gloves to handle the slides and negatives while you are working with them.

BLOG - Simple Steps to help you Clean Your Slides and Negatives.