Dust control is different for different things:
For loading film holders:
1. Keep them clean. All my holders are stored in ZipLoc-style bags after loading and loaded quickly after being emptied.
2. Keep your film-loading area clean. Mine is my darkroom, but if you don't have one, then use your bathroom. Clean it well, vacuum it, then mop, then wipe down the work surfaces, then run the hot water for a minute or two to humidify the air a bit and settle the dust. Wait 5-10 minutes then before loading.
3. I use a small vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter and the upholstery attachment (horizontal brush) to clean the filmholders. Before loading, holders get vacuumed inside and out and the work surface gets vacuumed as well.
4. During loading, tap an edge of each sheet on the countertop to dislodge any dust that may have settled on it. It also helps to keep the stack of film you are loading from emulsion-side-down. Then any dust settling on it settles on the back of the sheet. To load, take a sheet, turn it on edge and tap it on the countertop, turn it emulsion-side-up and load it into the holder. That minimizes the time the emulsion side is up and vulnerable to dust settling on it.
5. Close the slide immediately after loading.
When processing film.
Keep your processing area clean. This is really the most important thing; see above for cleaning tips. Note that the real danger from dust when processing is at the drying stage. Air filters help to get dust out of the air, but run them before processing, not when your film is drying. Keep your trays/tanks clean and free of debris. You last step needs to be in distilled/filtered water with a wetting agent. The area you dry your film in needs to be clean and the air dust-free.
Store your negatives in sleeves or envelopes in a clean environment. All that care in processing is wasted if you just leave them lying around to collect dust after you've processed them. Don't take them out of the sleeves until you need to view or print them.
You'll notice that to this point, no aerosols or other fancy dust-busting equipment is necessary. Just fastidious cleaning.
When enlarging or contact printing, again, the most important thing is to have your work area clean and the air dust free. Air filters help. Don't sweep and vacuum and then print immediately. Sweeping and vacuuming stir up dust. Run some hot water to increase the humidity a bit and settle the dust and wait a while. Then print. Try not to stir up dust when you're printing. I have the luxury of a dedicated darkroom with an exhaust fan. I've installed lightproof louvers with filters in them so when I run the fan, filtered air is drawn into the darkroom. I also have a desktop air filter. I keep the darkroom door closed as much as possible.
If you keep things clean, and your negatives are dust-free to start with, you won't need a lot of fancy stuff when printing. I use a bulb-blower and an old Zerostat (an anti-static gun for LPs - audiophiles from the past will remember them). I only use the Zerostat rarely. For the most stubborn dust, I have a soft brush. I use that only rarely as well.
My procedure is to put the negative in the holder and then hold it up to a light source at an angle so I can see the dust easily. This gets blown off with the blower. Stubborn specs get a zap from the Zerostat or a light whisk with the brush.
My enlargers are clean. I clean them fairly regularly by lightly vacuuming and wiping with a damp cloth. I don't have to do it often, since they live in the darkroom that stays clean.
If you use a glass negative carrier, you must take care that all glass surfaces are dust free as well. I don't (yes, I know - heresy! - but I find I don't need one very often with 4x5 negatives).
Keep the area around the enlarger clean and wiped down. Dust on the enlarging paper leaves spots on the print too, so make sure you keep the paper in its box or a clean paper safe until just before use. I tap the edge of the paper on the counter (away from the enlarger a bit) before putting it in the easel do dislodge any dust.
For cameras and lenses:
Same advice as above: keep them in a clean environment in bags, cases, whatever so they won't collect dust. Every now and then wipe the camera down, extend the bellows fully and blow out the inside with your breath and/or a bulb-blower. You can lightly vacuum them as well, but be careful to not have the vacuum cleaner on full power or else you can suck the bellows in and damage them.
When in the field in dusty conditions, keep the camera covered (your darkcloth will help) and only uncover it to make the exposure. If needed, remove the camera back and blow out the bellows occasionally.
When you unpack a filmholder from its ZipLoc bag, first blow off any dust from the outside of the bag, then remove the holder. Then blow or brush off any dust from the outside of the holder (no matter how careful you are, there will be some). Then insert the holder, remove the darkslide and make the exposure as quickly as possible after pulling the slide to keep dust from settling on the film before the exposure. Re-insert the slide as soon as you can as well, but dust settling on the film after the exposure is less of a problem.
Lastly, and maybe most importantly: learn how to spot your prints. No matter how hard you work, there will always be some spotting needed.
Hope this helps,
Doremus
