Darkroom in a carpeted room??

DREW WILEY · Jul 23, 2014

My first darkroom consisted of a blocked-out-window carpeted bedroom for enlarging and a bathroom with a little drum processor and portable
fan in it. I guarantee you that I never want to repeat that kind of experience!

Born2Late · Jul 23, 2014

Mine is carpeted, but it is very low pile tight weave. I vacuum and dust regularly and it has never been a problem. A contributing factor though is a homemade film drier with filtered forced air.

Jesper · Jul 24, 2014

Is it not possible to remove the carpet? I think that would have been my first choice.

Sirius Glass · Jul 24, 2014

Jesper said:
Is it not possible to remove the carpet? I think that would have been my first choice.

No we are required by state law and the home owners by-laws to have carpeted bedrooms for noise abatement. Why are you fussing about a carpeted dry darkroom? Do you think that I need to install self vacuuming carpeting??

DREW WILEY · Jul 24, 2014

Sit cross legged on some mountain top, take a deep meditative breath, and chant the words over and over again, thousands of times a day,
"lint, lint, lint, lint, lint, lint, lint, lint, lint ..............................."

Old-N-Feeble · Jul 24, 2014

Other than toilets and very old mattresses, house carpeting is the nastiest thing in your home... dirt, dust, microfibers, lint, microscopic insects. Every time you step you kick up some of that junk and it floats around in the air to end up on your film and lenses.

Sirius Glass · Jul 24, 2014

DREW WILEY said:
Sit cross legged on some mountain top, take a deep meditative breath, and chant the words over and over again, thousands of times a day,
"lint, lint, lint, lint, lint, lint, lint, lint, lint ..............................."

I only found lint in my belly button and none in my carpeted dry darkroom. So clean your navel and move on.

tkamiya · Jul 24, 2014

images39 said:
has anyone had experience using a carpeted room for a darkroom, and how that went?

My darkroom is fully carpeted. I do dry and wet process there except for the final wash. My washing system is setup in my garage. Film processing is done in my bathroom except for loading film into a tank. Not an ideal setup but it works and I didn't have to make any permanent modification to the house. It works very well for me. No disasters. No serious issues. No dust problems.

Unless you are willing to rip up the carpet (I wasn't) and make it an ideal situation, that's what you've got to work with. It's certainly doable with no obvious or serious issues.

Just don't spill anything!

DREW WILEY · Jul 24, 2014

Been there, done that. It can be done; but its kinda like trying to fell a four-foot diameter tree with a pocket knife. There are far more efficient
ways.

Old-N-Feeble · Jul 24, 2014

^^^^^^^

fotch · Jul 25, 2014

Sirius Glass said:
No we are required by state law and the home owners by-laws to have carpeted bedrooms for noise abatement. Why are you fussing about a carpeted dry darkroom? Do you think that I need to install self vacuuming carpeting??

Do you make that much noise when you sleep?

Old-N-Feeble · Jul 25, 2014

Since no one else has asked: 1. What state has a law requiring carpeted homes... and what do they demand if health issues preclude it's use? 2. Who in the HOA is going to know if you removed the carpet and install linoleum and... what if you have health issues that carpet is very bad for such as allergies or asthma?

Old-N-Feeble · Jul 25, 2014

fotch said:
Do you make that much noise when you sleep?

I don't think the noise abatement is for people sleeping.

MartinP · Jul 26, 2014

I must be weird (well, ok, almost certainly) as I think carpet is disgusting. It is effectively impossible to clean it and, in the best case, you will spend your sleeping life breathing in carpet fibres. Additionally, every enlarger table you set up in the room will wobble.

If you are not allowed to remove the stuff, I'd suggest to put hardboard down, then laminated-flooring or vinyl over the top of that.

Old-N-Feeble · Jul 26, 2014

Pfft... I'm done...

removed account4 · Jul 27, 2014

when i was a lad there was a friend whose mom and dad had plastic runners
all over theor white carpets
and their furniture shrink wrapped so their little toy dog
wouldnt mess with the furniture ...
maybe if you canrt remove the carpeting and put down something protective on the subflooring
( and replace the carpeting like a throw rug when you are done darkrooming ) you can shrinkwrap
your furniture and rugs ..

all you will need will be a toy dog and you will be set !

DREW WILEY · Jul 28, 2014

You can get plastic overlay material for carpets, but if it has an adhesive on it, it's only meant for temporary use. Once the adhesive gets old,
it's no longer removable!

Darkroom in a carpeted room??

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