What Are PEC*PADs? They are a unique blend of fibers especially designed for photographic applications. PEC*PADs are smooth and soft . . . making them nonabrasive, strong and lint free. Our pads are better than 99.999% contaminant free! PEC*PADs come in two sizes: 1O cm (4") square for small cleaning jobs (such as 35mm format) and 23cm (9") square for cleaning larger areas (medium and large format, prints, murals etc.).
On What Can You Use PEC*PADs? PEC*PADs can be safely used on all hardened photographic emulsions, including films and papers. Extreme care must be used with 35mm chromogenic film, as the base of these films are very easily scratched. PEC*PADs can also be used on coated or uncoated photographic lenses, binoculars and telescopes without scratching delicate coatings. With care, PEC*PADs are safe to clean plexiglass and are ideal for cleaning picture frames, glass, CD's etc.!
How to use PEC*PADs. Put the image to be cleaned onto a sheet of glass (light table) or onto the emulsion side of a clean old scrap RC print. Spray a few drops of PEC-12 onto a clean PEC*PAD. With the gentle pressure of two or three extended fingers. start at the far end of the film/print to be cleaned, and smoothly move your fingers toward you in a straight line removing contaminants from the emulsion by transferring them to the PEC*PAD. Extremely grimy stains (such as laser separation oil) may need a second or even a third pass (taking care to use a clean PEC*PAD and additional PEC-12). Any material applied with enough pressure will ultimately cause scratches, but normal, prudent use of PEC*PADs will provide scratch free cleaning of slides, negatives and prints. REMEMBER: When cleaning with PEC-12 PHOTOGRAPHIC EMULSION CLEANER, one pass with very light pressure will clean nonwater-based stains. If one light pass doesn't appear to have an effect on a stain, it may be waterbased and further rubbing will not help, and may damage an emulsion. When cleaning areas which are heavily soiled (laser separation oil, heavy ink marks etc.), use more than one PAD to avoid smearing the stain. You may rotate the PEC*PAD to expose a clean area and thus clean several images before discarding. For detailed tips on cleaning refer to the PEC-12 section.