Darkroom in a carpeted room??

images39 · Jul 19, 2014

I've moved from a house in which I had a basement darkroom, 1,800 miles cross country to an area in which the houses don't have basements. In my new home, I'm planning to set up a darkroom in a den with a carpeted floor. For washing, I'll carry the prints to a laundry room a few feet away. I'm just wondering if printing in a carpeted room is going to be a disaster... has anyone had experience using a carpeted room for a darkroom, and how that went?

Thanks,
Dale

Jon Shiu · Jul 19, 2014

yes, it is no problem. Just protect the carpets from any splashing of chemicals.

Jon

Oren Grad · Jul 19, 2014

Stuff will splash, it's inevitable. Cover the carpet as best you can with plastic mats or sheeting.

ParkerSmithPhoto · Jul 19, 2014

I'd worry more about dust. Carpet is a repository for filth and grime.

images39 · Jul 19, 2014

Yes, dust is one concern. If anyone's tried printing in a carpeted room, I'd like to hear if they had constant struggles with dust on the negs?

Another concern, is will the carpet absorb the odors after a while, and make the room constantly smell bad?

Dale

MattKing · Jul 19, 2014

Count on having to replace the carpet when you stop using the room.

And you will have more trouble with dust.

It depends somewhat, of course, on the carpet type. Old style "indoor-outdoor" would be far less problem than 1970s style shag.

One further complication - if you have high pile, small parts will fall!

BetterSense · Jul 19, 2014

I did it. It sucks for dust and the carpet gets trashed.

gone · Jul 19, 2014

You won't have any dust issues if you're just carrying the prints to be washed....they're going into water.

As for other dust issues, it totally depends on the humidity of where you moved to. When we were in New Mexico, dust was a constant, constant war, and I always lost. Here in Florida, the dust problem just went away overnight. I hang my negs in the bathroom like most people do, and if I need them dried sooner rather than later, I hold them over the air registers and let the a/c blow on them, or simply stretch them out in front of a fan. Mind you, the fan has dust that is just sitting all over the blades, but it stays right there, and our whole house is carpeted w/ that old shag style carpet. Humidity is GOOD.

Light Guru · Jul 19, 2014

Depending on the size of the laundry room I would consider using that instead.

Sirius Glass · Jul 19, 2014

My dry darkroom is carpeted and my wet darkroom has marble floors.

JackRosa · Jul 19, 2014

If your house has an attic, it may be an alternative. Like you, I moved from a place where I had a basement (East Coast) to a place where I could find no (affordable) house with a basement (Oklahoma). I built my darkroom in the attic - works well.

snapguy · Jul 19, 2014

bruise

I think you are cruisin' for a bruisin'. It's tough but I think you need to give it some more think.

railwayman3 · Jul 19, 2014

I've never had a carpeted darkroom, but I do know that my study collects much less dust since I replaced carpet with woodstrip flooring. General dust is much less noticable on surfaces, and specifically in handling and scanning slides and negs. (We live outside a city area, with no pets or smoking in the house).

HowardDvorin · Jul 19, 2014

I have had my enlarger in a carpeted closet for many years. I print from 6 x 9 to 8 x 10 from 35mm and 645 negatives. I have not had a dust problem.

I do my wet darkroom work in a nearby bathroom.

John Koehrer · Jul 19, 2014

A couple of options that may improve the situation.
Humidifier, Air filter ionizer, next option. How about covering all or part of the room with rubber flooring sections from someplace like Harbor Freight? Rubber floor matting/runners? Anything like this may have to be grounded to minimize static electricity though.

Jon Shiu · Jul 19, 2014

I used a carpeted bedroom as darkroom for several years and had no dust problems, and always used a glass negative carrier. You can get vinyl floor remnants for very cheap at different places like Lowes to protect the carpet.

Jon

Wayne · Jul 19, 2014

Both my wet and dry darkrooms are carpeted. I think carpet is the least of my problems, if any problem at all. And it's awfully comfy.

GRHazelton · Jul 19, 2014

Sirius Glass said:
My dry darkroom is carpeted and my wet darkroom has marble floors.

Pretty classy!

Sirius Glass · Jul 19, 2014

GRHazelton said:
Pretty classy!

The sink top is also marble so I am careful to cover it and the back splash before placing a plywood counter down for the chemical trays.

GRHazelton · Jul 19, 2014

Wayne said:
Both my wet and dry darkrooms are carpeted. I think carpet is the least of my problems, if any problem at all. And it's awfully comfy.

I'd worry about accidental spills onto the carpet, and the chemical dust when the spills dried. I once had a darkroom which shared space with a washer and drier. We did have a dust problem! but not insoluble.

Sirius Glass · Jul 19, 2014

I do not worry about chemical spills in my carpeted dry darkroom, because I do not use liquid photographic chemicals in there. It is a dry darkroom. Dust is not a problem with the carpeting.

bdial · Jul 19, 2014

A desert climate and carpet is a bad combination for dust in a darkroom. At least, that was my experience.
As for spills, it may depend a little on how badly you want to preserve the carpet, assuming you own it.

A few chair mats or something you build from thin plywood and laminate flooring would help to solve both problems though. Or else consider replacing the carpet with some other material.

fotch · Jul 20, 2014

You could build a floating floor to cover the carpeted one, perhaps lay down Visqueen (plastic sheeting)first, and it would be reversible.

Old-N-Feeble · Jul 20, 2014

DUST!! You need a linoleum floor.

Wayne · Jul 20, 2014

GRHazelton said:
I'd worry about accidental spills onto the carpet, and the chemical dust when the spills dried. I once had a darkroom which shared space with a washer and drier. We did have a dust problem! but not insoluble.

I worry about all sorts of things I shouldn't worry about but that doesn't worry me. That's what they make Hoovers for. And any spills over the tall sides of my sink are quite minimal anyway.

Darkroom in a carpeted room??

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