Drying negatives when not in darkroom

[lewis-richards]

Hi I want to develop my own 5X4 negatives but I don't have my own darkroom, i'll do this in a tank which is light sealed. How would I go about drying them without a dryer? The two questions are where would I dry them and on average how long will they take?

 

[Grainy]

I don't develop 4x5, but I develop 120 and 35 film without a proper darkroom. I dry the negative strips hanging in the shower over night and then they're ready to cut and archive next morning.

 

[lewis-richards]

Thats where I thought would be a place to be with the least dust in the house with my bathroom being nearly almost all tiles. What time in the night do they get put out to dry and what time do they get picked up in the morning so I know how many hours on average because opening the door will make dust stick to them if they are still wet if it moves any.

 

[Kevin Caulfield]

You should allow about four hours or so for complete drying.

 

[36cm2]

<Posted via APUG mobile wap service..>

Buy a clear plastic clothes storage bag from a store like bed bath and beyond. They are about 4 feet tall and 2x2 at the top. You can hang your film in there, zip it up (no dust) and hang it in any closet. Dry time is usually 24 hours for me.

 

[Yamaotoko]

I read somewhere not too long ago, I think it may have been an Ilford data sheet, that general drying time for 4x5 is only about 20 minutes. I've actually found that to not be too far off, it would depend on your climate through I guess. I develop my sheets individually, and by the time any subsequent sheets have finished in the rinse and ready to hang up, the previous one is nearly completely dry, with just a final drop waiting to fall.

Best hanging system I've found... a good old wire coat hanger with clothes pegs across the bottom, you can safely fit three, maybe four 4x5's across the length of it.

With regards to hanging them in the bathroom, a neat trick is to run the hot tap for a while first (or, in reality, hang them up after someone has had a shower). That way the steam collects any dust in the air and drags it down with the moisture as it cools. Instant clean-room.

 

[Yamaotoko]

You should allow about four hours or so for complete drying.

Even though I find my negatives dry very quickly, I still leave them hanging a lot longer as Kevin suggests.

 

[David Brown]

Darkroom or no darkroom, just hang them up overnight.

 

[MattKing]

Best hanging system I've found... a good old wire coat hanger with clothes pegs across the bottom, you can safely fit three, maybe four 4x5's across the length of it.

Or if you want to go high tech :

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/cleaning/seletti-underwear-dryer-from-the-conran-shop-060633

(you can also find cheaper and simpler plastic versions of this at discount stores)

 

[djhopscotch]

Or if you want to go high tech :

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/cleaning/seletti-underwear-dryer-from-the-conran-shop-060633

(you can also find cheaper and simpler plastic versions of this at discount stores)

Ikea's has eye's

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80189663

 

[Sirius Glass]

I have a length of fishing line with a loop, which I use to make a sliding loop that goes over the shower head. The line goes over the rail and I have a small dumbbell to hold the line from sagging. The line had a series of figure eight knots to keep the clips from sliding into each other.

Steve