One thing that many people don't realize is that when you shoot Instant Film, the print isn't really the final product. Whether you shoot Impossible, Instax or Peel Apart, there is always more. In this first in a series on Instant Photography we'll go over how to recover a negative from Fuji FP-100C. The process is straightforward and requires only some warm water, a sheet of glass, a sponge and of course some bleach.

Start off by reserving the backing from your polaroid. It can be dry or you can clear it immediately after you process. I personally like to let them dry as while I'm shooting I don't want to slow down. First wet the surface of the glass. then wet the emulsion side (that is the side that was in contact with the print) after removing as much paper as possible. Make sure you have the water running. The temperature should be warm to touch but not very hot. At this point you can either use bleach based toilet bowl cleaning gel or bleach based cleaning spray (I personally prefer Fantastic 5 In 1 Bleach Cleaner). 

Depending on the type you use will affect the final negative. The spray cleaner will bleed over to the emulsion side creating odd and random color and density changes that I sort of like. If you want a more solid negative with little loss on the emulsion side use the gel cleaner. I usually leave the bleach on for about twenty seconds then rinse and scrub with the sponge to remove the black anti halation backing off the negative. Once it clears (which will be nearly instant) using just warm water rinse off the negative rubbing the emulsion side gently to remove any "gooey" residue.

I go over the entire process in the video below;


Here are the results!

Remember folks I do have a Polaroid Project I'm working on and would love your support. You can find out more at my GoFundMe page for this project. If you have any questions please feel free to comment below!