Cleaning 35mm slides

[Andrew P. Huzar]

Hi all,

We have a few small collections of 35mm slides that need to be cleaned/ dusted and rehoused. We’re anticipating some summer volunteers, and I was hoping I could make this a project for one of them. If only I knew how to do it myself!

The slides have a range of dates from 1965 to 1991. A good deal are  labeled Ektachrome and Kodachrome, but many are  blank or labelled simply color transparency, color slide, or color film. The Kodachrome and Ektachromes also vary between the terms transparency, slide, and film. Is there a difference? Should one labelled as film be treated differently than one labelled transparency? Should the Kodachromes and Ektachromes be separated?

As for the mounts, they are primarily of the cardboard variety. Sould be worried about these? What about the plastic mounted slides that seem to date from 1988 onwards?

In terms of cleaning should they simply be dusted? Some of the Ektachromes from 1965 look like they might have mold? Is PEC-12 safe to use?

And finally one last question about storage. Would it be better to purchase an archival box system, or can we use the polypropelene pages that hold 20 slides each?

Sorry for all the questions. I just want to make sure we get it right the first time and spend our money wisely.

-Abigail

[Author]

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