Darkroom - Bad place to store prints and such?

I am in the process of setting up my darkroom, and wanted to get some opinions. I was planning on making it my camera storage and matting area as well, as the room is large and the seclusion would keep the cats away from my mats.

However, a comment in one of the threads mentioned mold on lenses in the darkroom. Should I keep my non-darkroom things segregated? I was planning on storing prints in a flat file cabinet, negatives, mat board, cameras, etc.

I guess what I am asking is does anyone have issues with chemical vapors, humidity, etc. that might harm this stuff? Where do you all keep these things?

All my darkrooms have been in basements and as such, tend to be more humid. I run a de-humidifier anywhere I have lens,leather, tools, cameras. Air Conditioning would be an alternative however, sometimes its not needed yet the basement still needs to be de-humidified.

YMMV

Jeff,

A lot depends on the room. My darkroom is in the basement. If this is secluded from the cats, mice could be a problem. They are here. They love mat board and print paper, with or without images. The wet side of the darkroom can be very humid (surprise) depending on ventilation, heat or air conditioning. High humidity, lack of ventilation = mold on anything.

I store print paper and mats in steel, mouse tight, flat files in the room next to the darkroom. This room also houses the furnace, air conditioner and dehumidifier. Open packs of print paper are in paper safes in the darkroom. Finished prints are on the walls or in archival boxes (from Light Impressions) on the first floor. Camera gear is in closets on the first floor or on tripods in "my" room. You are of course welcome to see all this when you are here in September.

If you haven’t already found it, there is a wonderful thread here on darkroom portraits with pictures and 616 posts as of this writing. (there was a url link here which no longer exists).

John Powers

If the room is large enough, consider dividing it into the dark room and light room, for which the latter can be used for storage and finishing. I think the darkroom should be as clean and dust free as possible. Using it for storage of everything means clutter and dust. Also, cutting mat board generates dust. When I am finishing prints, I get very bored and like to have a bright room with music or some distraction. So if you can divide the space and have a window in the finishing/storage room that would be ideal.

I think it is generally inefficient and expensive to store mat board in horizontal drawers. I have many different sizes, scraps, etc. Also, I have many sheets of plexiglass. I have vertical separators under my countertops (fairly narrow slots) so that I can store the larger sizes (20x24, 22x28) vertically under the counter which is 30 inches deep.

jeroldharter said:

Also, cutting mat board generates dust. When I am finishing prints, .....

I think it is generally inefficient and expensive to store mat board in horizontal drawers. I have many different sizes, scraps, etc. Also, I have many sheets of plexiglass. I have vertical separators under my countertops (fairly narrow slots) so that I can store the larger sizes (20x24, 22x28) vertically under the counter which is 30 inches deep.

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I would defer to this thinking and qualify what I said by repeating that we have a mouse problem here in the boonies, so steel containers, flat or vertical are a plus. I have found a framer who will cut mats at a $1 a hole, so I do not do my own cutting, nor do I store much in the way of mats. The dark room is separate, clean and well vented.

John Powers

jp80874 said:

I would defer to this thinking and qualify what I said by repeating that we have a mouse problem here in the boonies, so steel containers, flat or vertical are a plus. I have found a framer who will cut mats at a $1 a hole, so I do not do my own cutting, nor do I store much in the way of mats. The dark room is separate, clean and well vented.

John Powers

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$1 to cut mats? Is Bath Ohio near China? That is a great price. I hate cutting mats. I had mice once in my old house and it was a real nuisance. They never messed with my photo supplies, perhaps too busy reproducing to bother. By innefficient I meant that in regard to space. I tried that with my last darkroom but found myself with too large piles of stuff and would sometimes damage boards trying to pull them from the bottom. But the good thing was that I had 2 4' x 8' tables under which I could store things. Don't have as much space now.

Hmm .... I guess keeping wet and dry in separate rooms makes sense. I might be able to work the space into two rooms.

John - I will definitely take you up on a tour of your darkroom in September.

My darkroom is about 10x11 feet, and though it gets crowded, I store all my negatives, contact sheets, prints, and camera equipment in it. The equipment is in a locked closet; the rest is on shelves around the room. I live in the tropics, so an air conditioner and dehumidifier keep the room cool and dry. This would be imperative wherever the materials and equipment were stored, in the darkroom or anywhere else. There's more humidity in the air here than what comes from the darkroom sink. Since I bought my first dehumidifier, I have never had a problem with fungus on lenses, negatives, nor prints.
Mat cutting and framing is done in another room: my wife's studio, which is also dehumidified.
Our clothes closet is dehumidified, too.

jeroldharter said:

$ I had mice once in my old house and it was a real nuisance. .

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Jerold,

These mice have become my best friends. In a second marriage 17 years ago I sold my house and moved in with wife so her two kids could stay in the same school. I got 1/4 (11x13') of the half basement for shop and eventually darkroom. As the kids grew and moved away, my share of the basement did not expand. Then one wonderful day my wife found a 10" baby garter snake probably looking for baby mice near the washer and dryer. I now have the darkroom, a workshop, a room for parts inventory, a dry area for storage, a 20 cu ft freezer for film, a dry mount press.....

Several years ago I made the mistake of killing, in the shock of seeing, a 34" garter snake in the garage. It had been keeping mice away from two old Porsches. Our daily drivers sit outside in the weather while the snakes and the Porsches do play. If you see a white '55 Speedster with a really skinny driver, call the Police. I have been robbed.

John Powers