Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Film treatment

This is topic Film treatment in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Justin Frakes (Member # 10491) on 06-26-2018, 10:33 AM:

So I've been treating all my 35mm films with some stuff called vitaprint or something like that. It is so expensive like 70 bucks a gallon and it smells just like mineral oil. What is this stuff and what is the cheapest way to preserve these films I have a lot to treat and I would need a lot of gallons of treatment. Thanks Justin.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-26-2018, 08:16 PM:

I've never heard of Vitaprint, but you should seek out FilmGuard because it's undoubtedly better stuff. (Contact Brad, the owner of this site.)

Posted by Frank Bolkovac (Member # 6201) on 06-28-2018, 09:00 AM:

Your thinking of "VITAFILM". Yes, it is expensive. I used this before with great results,how-ever some film treatments can loosen tape splices.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 06-28-2018, 09:21 AM:

The current manufacturer claims it is the same chemical composition from decades past, but I've heard way too many people state it doesn't even smell the same as older cans of Vitafilm they had, so I think the mix is different (which could be good or bad).

One thing I can assure you though, the claim that it stops/cures vinegar syndrome is total snake oil. I am also not aware of any archive using it on their films, but I have heard satisfied people who have used it on private films that were dry and brittle to help relax the film so it was runnable. FilmGuard will offer that benefit too, but I think the owner of Vitafilm is registered on this forum so he can always answer questions on his product.

The original Vitafilm MSDS has been floating around the internet and is here but I don't know about the current MSDS.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 06-28-2018, 08:08 PM:

quote: Brad Miller
I have heard satisfied people who have used it on private films that were dry and brittle to help relax the film so it was runnable. FilmGuard will offer that benefit too

Years ago, I had to run an old, brittle print of "Fantom of the Opera" (1925) that practically crumbled like a cracker when you handled it. It was the only print of the original movie we could get and tickets had already been sold so this was a "do or die" moment.

I gave it a liberal hand-treatment of FilmGuard...about a half a bottle...and let it sit for a day. Then I gave it a test run through the projector with the Kelmar cleaner in place...again, liberally soaked in FilmGuard...and let it sit for a while longer.

When the time came to rehearse the orchestra, I was practically shitting my pants as I started the projector (an old, straight gate Simplex PR-1003) but the print ran well!

The orchestra conductor decided to rehearse again, at the last minute, so I ran it with cleaner pads that were almost dry. It ran even better.

Later that evening, about six hours later, the curtain went up... Yes! We used the curtains! The film played flawlessly, with hardly a jitter or clatter!

From that day forward, I never ran a piece of film without FilmGuard.

Even in the place where I formerly worked that enacted a blanket ban on FilmGuard, I smuggled the stuff in and treated the prints late at night when nobody else was around.

I never tried Vitafilm, basically because, with FilmGuard, I never had a reason to use it.