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Here are my experiences with Staticmasters, and a little more info than requested because I am awfully long-winded. When I first started working in a professional darkroom in 1971, we used the wide Staticmaster brush with its radioactive Polonium strip. However, I soon learned that the brush part held a lot of dust and just re-deposited it back onto the negative--the brush required frequent vacuuming to remove the accumulated dust particles. So, I used the Staticmaster only to neutralize the static charge in the dust, and resorted to my tried-and-true 2-ounce ear syringe to blow off any remaining dust. (The larger four-ounce ear syringes are a little too big to get a good, tight grip for the rapid squeezing of the syringe's ball to move the air very fast, so I prefer the smaller variety.) The ear syringe has the additional quality of not using any freezing-cold propellent to move the air, which can cause marks on negatives and can shatter glass from its sub-zero temperature under certain conditions when used to clean camera lenses. Also, after my one-time investment of 49 cents, the air was free. Relative humidity in the air also can affect the static that attracts dust, so I always keep my darkroom on the humid side to help reduce dust. Also, I breathe onto the neg to add humidity before using the ear syringe to blow off dust. Never, NEVER, use your mouth to blow onto a neg or slide to remove dust, as you will add little strings of saliva across the image. Been there, done that, never again. When all else fails, use oil from the end of your nose to grease-down the neagtive's base side (NOT the emulsion side!!!!) to remove dust. This also helps hide small surface scratches on the base (shiny) side of the neg. For badly scratched negs, put glycerine on each side that is scratched, and tightly sandwhich the neg between two sheets of clean glass. The glycerine fills the grooves of the scratches, and helps remove their appearance on your prints. Staticmasters worked OK for small dust accumulation on negs, but all of the other methods mentioned worked better, cheaper, and were more environmentally friendly. Gee, I guess I should not feel guilty buying, using and then throwing into the trash an exhausted Staticmaster with its radioactive Polonium strip after India and Pakistan just detonated a bunch of nuclear warheads into the same environment! It takes just one idiot testing a nuclear weapon to neutralize all of the safe-environment work done by millions of people who want to save the planet. I would guess that any sort of dust-wiping on the plastic in a truck's dashboard not only would scratch the surface, but also would create a static charge that would attract more dust, starting the problem all over again. The bigger question is this: Why even own a truck if you are afraid of scratching its dashboard plastic with a soft cotton cloth? That's like worrying about enemy bullets scratching the paint on your army tank. Oh, I see, the "truck" really is a LandRover owned by an East Coast yuppie-type driving across the "outback" from his apartment at the Watergate to a gourmet wine shoppe in Bethesda. In that case he'll probably opt for the more upscale, imported canned air instead of the more practical, domestic ear-syringe! (Sorry, I just couldn't resist writing this last paragraph!) Seriously, John, I hope that this info helps your friend clean his truck, and others clean their slides and negs. John B. Corns Owings Mills, Maryland _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ======================================================= -> SPORRS: 'Serious Photographers Of Railroad Related Subjects' -> Web Site: http://www.anet-stl.com/acphotog/sporrs/ -> Message © 1998 SPORRS® - All Rights Reserved =======================================================
