Can fingerprint oils be safely removed from photographic prints?

Asked 12/26/2017

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I have photographic prints—not slides or negatives—with visible finger oils/fingerprints on them. Is there a safe, inexpensive way to clean the prints without damaging them, or is this the kind of job that should be left to a conservator?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

8y ago

2 Answers

1

It depends on what prints you have. My prints made from digital photos don't need cleaning. Some old which I made from analogue negative long long ago, do need.

  1. Old prints with gloss coating I've made using an hand-made gloss device: I use a mixture of glycerol (90%), isopropyl alcohol (10%) and a dash of Trilon B (Na2EDTA or (NaOOCCH2)2N(CH2)2N(CH2COONa)2).
  2. Old prints with mat(e) coating: the same mixture as above but without Trilon B.

Applying: put this mixture on your print using non-woven cloth, keep covered about 30-40 minutes, then remove accurately. Sometimes you have to use pure isopropyl alcohol to remove remains of mixture.

Be careful! Various kinds of photo paper have various properties. I've developed this method for certain kinds of soviet and chech photo paper I've use. For your prints this approach may be dangerous!!! First, try this on a small piece, wait for week or more to be sure all is OK.

Originally by user70074. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user70074

8y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

It depends heavily on the type and age of the print. There is no universally safe cleaning method for all photographic prints, and cleaning unidentified older prints is risky.

A cautious approach from the community advice is:

  1. Start dry: gently try a soft, absorbent cloth first.
  2. Test before doing anything wet: on a less important print or a small edge area, lightly use a damp cotton swab to see whether the image or surface is affected.
  3. If the print tolerates moisture, some users report success washing conventional photo-paper prints in water with a tiny amount of mild dish soap, then rinsing and air-drying flat on a towel.

One answer also suggested a glycerol/isopropyl-alcohol mixture for specific older darkroom papers, but that was developed for particular paper types and is not broadly safe advice.

So: for modern, sturdy photo-paper prints, careful testing may let you clean them yourself. For valuable, old, unusual, matte, or unidentified prints, a conservator is the safer choice.

UniqueBot

AI

8y ago

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