Best way to lightproof

[brofkand]

I have a darkroom set up right now in my basement. The only thing I have to lightproof is a small window, so I just took two black trash bags, taped them together, and taped them to the window. The door is an outside "trap door" looking thing (think Wizard of Oz), so I didn't have to lightproof that. There's another door once you get inside the basement.

When I go to school, I'm also planning on setting up the darkroom in my bedroom. The problem is I will have to lightproof the door and window. The window will be far too large to simply tape up a trash bag.

So, what's the best way to lightproof a room? I've heard it's good to use blackout cloth, but nobody in town carries it (Wal-Mart). We have a Lowe's and Wal-Mart, and that's about it as far as big-box retailers. Any ideas?

 

[wildbill]

Look up motion picture lighting rental in your area. Ask for duvetyne aka commando cloth. There's nothing better.

 

[cpalm]

fabric stores carry blackout cloth, ask one of clerks, they also carry velcro in several sizes and types of backing, so you might be able to use that to keep the cloth snug to the window

 

[Pinholemaster]

For small areas aluminum foil is light tight and easy to shape into any situation.Blackout cloth for large areas.

Also look up area community darkrooms to use.

 

[brofkand]

I asked the clerk at my Wal-Mart and they don't have blackout cloth. Would something like black plastic from Lowe's (the kind used to prevent weeds from growing in gardens) work, or is it not thick enough to block light?

I'm not talking about the fabric kind, I'm talking about plastic. It serves as a weed blocker and a vapor/water blocker.

 

[Kevin Caulfield]

Yes, that garden plastic is fine, but just to be sure, use several layers together. One good thing about that plastic is that it is quite light, so when taped up it stays there rather than falling off.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I'm working on the same project at the moment. My new darkroom is a large room that we're using as a study with an adjacent bathroom. The wet side is in the shower stall, and the dry side will be in the study. The shower stall will be dedicated for photo use (we have another full bath), but the toilet and sink will still function as intended, and the study will also serve as a study with a desk, bookshelves, and such. I want to black out the whole space so I'll have a roomy open space to print in, even though I won't be using the whole space for darkroom work.

With any solution, I've found it's good to have a couple of different layers, one to block out most of the light, and one to catch all the pinhole leaks, and maybe a third or fourth to make a light trap that lets air pass through.

B&H sells opaque plastic, which I've used to black out small windows. In the current setup I've set up a light trap that lets some air get into the bathroom.

Use gaffer's tape to hang it. Don't use electrical tape. The black plastic will expand and contract, and so will the stretchy electrical tape, and you'll get leaks, and electrical tape outgasses unpleasant substances.

For the big window in the study, I think I'm going to try venetian blinds in the window with blackout curtains made from 16 oz. black commando cloth hanging in front of the window for when I really need it to be totally dark. I just emailed for a quote for the blackout curtains from www.rosebrand.com, which is a big manufacturer of theatrical curtains, and advertises the fabric itself at a reasonable price. I can sew my own curtains, if it turns out to be really expensive to have them do it, but I figure it's worth getting a quote.

 

[Jim Noel]

Porter's Cameras carries both fabric and plastic blackout mqterial.

 

[brofkand]

Thanks all. I've looked and B&H's stuff is just 6mil black plastic. I'm sure Lowe's will have the same stuff in the gardening section for a lower price.

 

[cdholden]

Thanks all. I've looked and B&H's stuff is just 6mil black plastic. I'm sure Lowe's will have the same stuff in the gardening section for a lower price.

If you find yourself at Lowe's, Home Depot or even your local hardware store, the black plastic can be found if you ask for "visqueen".

 

[Matthijs]

I've boarded up two pretty large windows with plywood to black-out my darkroom. I've made a frame around the window with bolts coming out it every 15 cm or so. The plywood board is pressed against the frame using wingnuts (so you can easily remove the board). To make an extra light tight seal, I've taped a weather-strip around the edges of the board. I also painted the outside of the board with the same color as the window frame (for aesthetic reasons, for anyone passing the window from the outside).

Works great and is easily made.