Vacuum slide cleaner for 2" x 2" slides by delsydsoftware

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

I have recently started going through some of my dad's old slides from his tour in the Navy in the late 60s. My intent was to scan and color-correct the slides, but 45 years in storage has left the slides covered in a large amount of dust. I'd rather not wipe the dust off and risk scratching or damaging the slides, because there is already enough cleanup work to do. So, i came up with this vacuum cleaning device.
The base holds 20 slides, and the top is designed for the 1.25 inch hose from a 1-gallon Shop-Vac. I tried using a hand vac as well, but there wasn't enough suction. Once you turn on the vacuum, you should see the slides lift up about 1cm in the box. If the slides don't lift, give the box a gentle shake, or put your hand on the bottom to restrict airflow a bit. Once the slides are floating, let the vacuum run for about 20-30 seconds.
Then end result is slides that are 80-90% cleaner. Some dust will still be present, but it vastly reduced the amount of dust on the slides I tested it with. A good majority of the slides I looked at were usable without further cleanup.