Distress Your Film by Putting It Through a Dishwasher Cycle

There’s a subgroup of film photographers who are dedicated to coming up with inventive new ways to distress film in order to achieve unexpected — and occasionally beautiful — results. Last year we shared that soaking film in rubbing alcohol does strange things to your images. Here’s another crazy idea: put a roll of film through the dishwasher. Photographer Tom Welland did just that and ended up with some vintage-looking photos.

Here’s what you do:

1. Put a roll of film through a dishwasher wash cycle
2. Let it sit around for a few days
3. Pull it out of the can in a darkroom and dry it carefully using a hairdryer
4. Roll the film back into the can
5. Shoot and process the film like you normall would

Welland does warn that you should probably check with a commercial lab before you drop off dishwashed film — the film may ruin their processing chemicals.

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Image credits: Photographs by Tom Welland