Cat hair on negatives

madgardener · Aug 12, 2012

Is there a way to get cat hair to not cling to negatives? When they are drying, for some reason the negatives act as a magnet, especially the hair of my white cat. Then when I start *CENSORED* it, I get these nice enlarged views of cat hair that I have to deal with.

Felinik · Aug 12, 2012

Clean out and then keep the cat out of the room where you dry the negatives?

tkamiya · Aug 12, 2012

One of the tricks is to close the door to the shower and turn on the shower HOT for a minute or so. Then shut it off, hang your film in the shower stall with curtain closed and door closed. If you can, close the AC vent also. It takes a while to dry but moisture in the air takes down the dust and possibly cat hair also.

zach · Aug 12, 2012

Something like this http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/24592-REG/Ilford_1203547_Antistaticum_Anti_Static_Cloth.html?

Alan W · Aug 12, 2012

The cat must go.There aren't many things in this life as important as your negatives.

mwdake · Aug 12, 2012

Give the cat a coat of varnish as it helps keep the hair under control.

tony lockerbie · Aug 12, 2012

Get a Poodle cross like me, they don't shed their fur....but cats are great aren't they, might just have to give up photography ):

Mainecoonmaniac · Aug 12, 2012

I have cats and I keep them out of the darkroom. Also, good housekeeping is also key. You will make a static charge on your negs when you pull it out of the plastic sleeves. I clean my enlarger and my negs when I print. Another solution is to get a Sphinx

Alan W · Aug 12, 2012

The cat MUST go.The negative is King.

Bill Burk · Aug 12, 2012

No matter what you do, the cat will come back.

Get a rat... That will keep the cat occupied and out of the darkroom...

HowardDvorin · Aug 12, 2012

I am quite sure that nobody cares BUT my cats are black and white!

Leigh B · Aug 12, 2012

My darkroom is always closed, and the air going in is filtered, so no problem although I have several cats.

If I ever had to choose between, the photography would go.

- Leigh

Leigh B · Aug 12, 2012

Bill Burk said:
Get a rat... That will keep the cat occupied and out of the darkroom...

... briefly

- Leigh

RattyMouse · Aug 12, 2012

The responses in this thread are hilarious.

The shower idea seems like it would work.

Gerald C Koch · Aug 12, 2012

Have you tried brushing your cats twice a week? This will cut down on the amount of shedding and the cats usually enjoy this.

MattKing · Aug 12, 2012

Gerald C Koch said:
Have you tried brushing your cats twice a week? This will cut down on the amount of shedding and the cats usually enjoy this.

And they are, after all, in charge.

winger · Aug 12, 2012

tkamiya said:
One of the tricks is to close the door to the shower and turn on the shower HOT for a minute or so. Then shut it off, hang your film in the shower stall with curtain closed and door closed. If you can, close the AC vent also. It takes a while to dry but moisture in the air takes down the dust and possibly cat hair also.

+1
I have 4 dogs (two are quite fluffy - shepherd mixes) and this works. It also gives me fairly flat/straight negs (less curl). Luckily, we have three full bathrooms and one stall shower goes completely unused except for film drying.

Bill Burk · Aug 12, 2012

Leigh B said:
... briefly

- Leigh

Good one!

I have a used Spiratone film dryer, the kind with a vinyl zipper bag that hangs six feet down under a drying unit with racks... Previous owner had a cat... Ask me how I know.

polyglot · Aug 13, 2012

I feel your pain.

I built a film-drying cabinet, which solves the problem entirely. Think of a wooden box about 1.2m high (room for 120 film but not 220 or 135 without cutting rolls) and just big enough to fit a fan in the top. Car-engine air-filter below the fan, films hung up below that and accessible via a front door, vent holes in the bottom, door sealed with rubber strips. Air blows slowly downwards through the filter, past the film and out. Not a speck of dust or hair on the film ever since I built that.

bdial · Aug 13, 2012

Lots of good suggestions here.

Edward weston had cats, they must be good for photography.

madgardener · Aug 13, 2012

I actually have 4 cats, but the cat I am referring to is also black and white, but it seems that she only sheds the white ones. Though the coat of varnish is a very tempting idea.

Getting rid of the cat is not an option however, SWMBO would most likely make me sleep in the garage forever, with it being August, right now that's not so bad, but here in the northern climes (Pennsylvania) it tends to get a bit chilly in the winter. Instead of a rat, I am using mice and a bird feeder. That seems to keep the crew occupied.

Seriously though, thanks for the replies. The home built drying cabinet is most likely my best bet.

Now, how about the wife??

Simon R Galley · Aug 13, 2012

I have two cats....and a basset hound....lots of hair, I never get hair on my negs though...I do them at work:

I cannot remember who said it, but someone did say that if cats could actually operate a tin opener, they would push us all into volcanoes and rule the world.....!

Simon ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology Limited :

Thomas Bertilsson · Aug 13, 2012

Humidity is the key. I hang my film to dry in a basement that is cleaned maybe once every two years. It isn't a furnished basement, but just one big room with a 100 year old concrete floors, stone walls, no direct heat, and lots of spider webs. The cats' litter boxes are down there too, and they do jump up among my photo equipment in my 'dark corner' that is my darkroom.

Also, I use Sprint wetting agent (has an anti-static quality to it) at the end of the process, and wipe off excess fluid before I hang negs to dry, and I never have a single speck of anything on the negatives. Always perfect, and very little spotting done when the prints are finished.

Worker 11811 · Aug 13, 2012

Shave the cat.

Newt_on_Swings · Aug 13, 2012

I'm surprised so many are cat owners here lol. Do you all happen to partake in cat photography? Id love to see some! Haha

Cat hair on negatives

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