Hiding a straight scratch when printing B&W Neg

[FilmDH]

Found a very thin, straight line scratch on a B&W neg. Nice shot but don't think I can retouch it good enough on the print.

I remember reading about tips for wiping something on the base side along the scratch that would mask it but can't remember.

What do you folk do to hide scratches?

Thanks,

DH

 

[Tim Baker]

Try this on a spare portion of the film: We used to rub vasoline on the scratched side of the negative, the whole side. It filled the crack, and likely because vasoline has a similar refractive index as the film, the scratch became largely invisible. The vasoline can be washed free later to avoid becoming a dust sink.

Tim