Darkroom Dustbusting

I have a major dust problem that I need to get under control without burning my house down and rebuilding. My electric dryer vents inside the house and is just outside the entrance to my darkroom, and there's nowhere else it can go. First order of business will be upgrading the lint collector on that.

Next my plan is to vacuum (my darkroom is carpeted...yeah I know, but I like it and need the insulation from the cold garage below) while the exhaust fan is running, and throw the Hepa filtering/deionizing machine in there for a while too. There is only one door I can close between the laundry room and the darkroom, which is a currently non-functional sliding pocket door. I currently leave that open, so air gets sucked from the laundry area all the way through my enlarger room and all the way through my wet darkroom, a distance of 40 feet. Maybe a humidifier might help, though I can't afford one right now.

I don't want to wreck the original sliding door but maybe I could rig up a cheap alternate sliding door (maybe even just 3/4" plywood?) and install a large, filtered vent in it.

Other ideas?

My darkroom doubles as the laundry room (although my wife would insist it's the other way around). I keep a dust cover (just a black plastic lawn & leaf bag) over my enlarger when it's not in use), ground the enlarger and dust my negatives with an anti-static brush and large bulb blower. Before hanging negatives up to dry I spray water into the air with a plastic bottle sprayer, which settles any dust. Amazingly I usually need to do little or no spotting on my prints.

Any chance you could exhaust into the laundry area, and get fresh air from somewhere else?

MattKing said:

Any chance you could exhaust into the laundry area, and get fresh air from somewhere else?

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Not without other undesirable complications. If I did that I'd also be venting into my bedroom, instead of outside like I am now.

Humidity control, vacuum with a HEPA filter. Make sure your clothes are clean and dust free, as your hair. I take my clothes from the dryer. You might look for articles on "cleanrooms". I once worked in one. When you vacuum (I use a 6gl Shop-Vac with HEPA) walls, ceiling and floor. Damp dust all other surfaces.

Ctein covered the walls of his darkroom with black plastic bin liners as a 'temporary measure' and discovered that they attracted but didn't shed dust ...