The Vinegar Syndrome Files...5 Year Test Results

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

 

16mm film in early stages of vinegar syndrome.

Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Small Gauge Film Archive

This post is about various tests I've done over the last 5 years looking to halt the progression of and reverse the degradation of film suffering from Vinegar Syndrome.

Vinegar Syndrome (VS) is a big problem with acetate cine' film. Maybe 15% to 20% of my cine' film Archive suffers from it in some form. Heat makes acetate film off-gas acetic acid + no ventilation in the sealed film can, for the acetic acid gas to escape = VS. The films then start to shrink and buckle. They become brittle, emulsion can flake off and in extreme cases solidify into a blob. If you want to allow for ventilation with film storage, get vented film cans.

The only surefire way to halt the progression of VS is to vacuum seal the film and freeze it subzero.

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Chest freezers are an economical way to buy freezer space. You can get a 5 cubic foot model for about $180. Or for $800 you can buy one big enough to hold 3 or 4 human bodies.

16mm humidor film can

Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Small Gauge Film Archive

Back in the day, they had humidor film cans. They had an absorbent material in the center to add water or chemicals to. Originally, they were made for water humidity. Later on, film users used various chemicals to try and preserve the film, such as camphor or from the smell of it, some type of naphthalene.

Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Small Gauge Film Archive

Vaporate - Peerless Film Treatment was a commercial treatment done to film to protect it from deterioration due to handling. I've only seen one example of Vaporate. That sample showed no deterioration from VS. But, being I've only seen one sample of Vaporate, there was not enough confirmation to draw any conclusions.

Vaporate trademark embossed on 16mm film leader

Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Small Gauge Film Archive

Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Small Gauge Film Archive

16mm film with Vaporate film treatment.

Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Small Gauge Film Archive

To save money, some film collectors made homemade humidor film cans by taping blotter material in the center of the lid.

Homemade 16mm humidor film cans.

Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Small Gauge Film Archive

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16mm film in lab can soaking in Vitafilm treatment.

Photo: D.D. Teoli Jr.

The tests I ran for Vitafilm & Film Renew covered 5 years using Kodachrome and B&W stock suffering from VS.

 

Photo: D.D. Teoli Jr.

Here were some of the tests I conducted on 16mm films. All aging was done in a tape sealed film can to maximize absorption and slow the evaporation process. Some films were reverse wound during the soaking and aging process, others were not. Reverse winding didn't make a whole lot of difference once it was returned to normal wind.

A few of the tests were not aged and just wiped down after treatment. Most of the testing was done with black and white film stock, although I did test a number of Kodachrome reels suffering from VS to see if there was any difference in results.

List of Tests:

Generous application of Vitafilm or Film Renew and aged 1 month.

Soaked 1 hour in Vitafilm or Film Renew and wiped down.

Soaked 1 day in Vitafilm or Film Renew and wiped down.

Soaked 1 day in Vitafilm or Film Renew, drip dried and aged 1 month.

Soaked 3 days in Vitafilm or Film Renew, drip dried and aged 2 months.

Soaked 1 week in Vitafilm or Film Renew, drip dried and aged 3 months.

Soaked 1 month in Vitafilm or Film Renew, drip dried and aged 6 months.

Soaked 3 months in Vitafilm or Film Renew, drip dried and aged 2 years.

Soaked 6 months in Vitafilm, drip dried and aged 4 years. Then it was soaked again for 2 days and aged another year for a total of 5 years aging. (Vitafilm tested only.)

Photo: D.D. Teoli Jr.

Irrespective of color or black and white film stock, none of the treatments I did fixed the film shrinking and warping. They may have halted the VS decay, but I can't attest to that one way or another, since it will take a few decades to determine if that is the case. The vinegar smell was replaced by a chemical smell and no further deterioration was noticed after the treatment. That is all I can say. 

Below are the results of the multi-soak 5-year test with Vitafilm.

Before treatment

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Same film as above after soaking in Vitafilm for 6 months. It was drip dried and aged 4 years. Then it was soaked again for 2 days and aged another year for a total of 5 years aging.

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A-D test strips give you an objective method to test for VS.

Photo: NYC Department of Records & Information Services

Photo used under auspices of Fair Use.

Background shows dirt on just a few feet of film using Film Renew as a cleaning agent.

Photo: D.D. Teoli Jr.

Irrespective of whether there is any halting of the VS from Film Renew or Vitafilm treatments; they both are excellent cleaners and lubricators for film. There is no comparison with the cleaning action you get with slow drying Film Renew compared to a fast-drying cleaner like Edwal that leaves a lot of the dirt behind. Fast drying cleaners evaporate before they get all the dirt. They also do not offer any lubrication if you are projecting a film. I cannot attest to the long-term archival effects of using film cleaners. That will have to be revisited a few decades from now.

Photo: D.D. Teoli Jr.

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Camera Store - Glendale, CA

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[Frank Wylie]

Another thing you can do to make the film more suited to copying is to counter-wind the film (base to emulsion or emulsion to base) very carefully to a core on a rewind with a tight-wind attachment.  Do this after your treatment with Vitafilm or Filmrenew softens the film a bit and let it set for a few weeks to a month. 

This procedure tends to somewhat counter the cupping of the film, but only if it has not reached the very brittle phase.  It should be copied when no further improvements can be noted, as the improvements tend to reverse themselves over a brief period of time.

Especially bad examples can be sandwiched with polyester leader and counter-wound to a tight-wind, but be aware it doubles the diameter of the final reel and uses a lot of leader.

Again, it needs to sit for an extended period in a room of no lower than 50% humidity to have an effect; dry air is not good.

Redimension Treatments that were pioneered and used by the (now defunct) Restoration House of Canada  DID relax the film and somewhat restore the flexibility of the film BUT only for a very short period of time before it shrank back even MORE and became even more fragile. 

These processes (both soaking and hyperbaric chamber) were only used just prior to copying the film and was obviously very time sensitive.  You had about 3 days to a week to copy the film, then it often disintegrated or turned into a hockey puck as the solvents evaporated out of the film base.

There is no known way to reverse shrinkage on a permanent basis, nor is there a "cure" for Vinegar Syndrome; Both are irreversible and only copying will save the content.

 

 

 

Edited January 10, 2023 by Frank Wylie
spacing!

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

Thanks Frank.

That's pretty stressful only having a few days to work. What is the quality comparison between making a contact print versus scanning and making a film print from the scan? 

[Simon Wyss]

A contact duplicate represents a moment in time, reprographed on suitable stock, nota bene, an integer full-surface photograph, frame by frame. If done properly, under the pressure of a glass block or similar onto microfilm, quality loss is minimal.

An electronic scan means denial of the artefact, you step away from the physical photograph, only binary coded data are delt with. Immaterialisation takes place. In the case of the film moving continuously while being scanned, quality loss can be considerable.