Conventional photographic film is loaded on to spiral reels which sit inside light tight containers when processed in a home darkroom. The film fits inbetween the grooves of the stainless steel spirals so that there is no contact between the front and back surfaces of the film.
Here is the spiral reel that can hold 100 feet of 70mm wide film, which equals about 300 exposures. It takes quite a bit of practice to get the film loaded without anything touching, especially in the dark!
Here are the tanks set up in the darkroom sink. Each tank holds twelve liters of chemistry.
First tank is the water rinse. The film is place in there first to remove the anti-halation backing. Then it is developed for 5 minutes to get the best speed out of it. After that it is back into the rinse tank, until the water runs clear. Then into the bleach until the film clears, back into the rinse for 5 to 10 minutes, and the last tank of Kodak Photo-Flo. The film is left on the reel to dry overnight.
Here is a smaller reel for test exposures that goes into a 2 liter tank, which develops about 15 feet of film.
