Hanging your strips. Clean enviroment?

[dwdmguy]

Good evening.

I'm getting a lot of dust etc., on my negatives, shown when scanned, I've been drying over the kitchen sink as I have no darkroom to speak of.

What is my best solution, location to dry the strips.
(Ok, I'm a single guy and don't clean every day... ok, ok, back off, I don't clean every week either)

Thanks
Tom

 

[David William White]

Similar problem. I found this great garment bag at Ikea for 9 dollars that I'm really happy with.

 

[dwdmguy]

Geez David, Great idea. Just a plastic one I guess? I'm thinking any type of material would have lint....
Thx

 

[chriscrawfordphoto]

The trick is hanging it somewhere where NO ONE will be walking through while it dries. That stirs up dust in the air. I dry in my apartment's bathroom. It is not b any means dust-free, yet I never have dust problems. I hang the film, SLOWLY close the door (to avoid the door moving air fast enough to stir up dust) and don't go back in the room for an hour, by which time the film is generally dry or nearly so.

 

[Bob F.]

The high humidity in the bathroom helps to keep the dust down too. If you have a shower cubicle, that makes a good location. Run the shower with hot water for a few minutes and hang the film.

 

[Jeff Searust]

Here are several home built dryers. My personal favorite is the last and is somewhat similar to what I have used. Mine does not have the bulb in the bottom, but is rather just a pipe with a hanger.

http://www.mediabaron.com/filmdryer.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21652620@N08/2624247217/

http://www.shutterbug.com/techniques/film_processing/0902sb_how/

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70122

http://www.darkroomsource.net/filmdry.shtml

http://www.phred.org/~josh/photo/neg_dry.html

 

[ChrisC]

I have a spare (thankfully) toilet I hang mine up in, with a 5-fin oil heater on half power. They dry within 30-60 minutes and I've never had a problem with dust. If you could manage crossing your legs for an hour whenever you develop, it seems to work quite nicely.

 

[2F/2F]

I also have used a plastic collapsible clothing wardrobe with good luck. I had a little filter that I put in and ran for a little while. When I started processing, I turned the filter off to let any dust settle. Then I put a freshly peeled big black plastic garbage bag in the bottom to draw the dust right before I started processing. It worked well while in a small rental. Who knows how much the air filter or plastic bag actually did to help out, but they could not have hurt too much. Now I have the luxury of a college drying cabinet....probably disgustingly full of dust, but darned convenient.

 

[Ian David]

Another vote for the shower cubicle.

 

[dwdmguy]

These are all just awesome suggestions and I'll be following them. Thank you so much for your time and help.

 

[Anscojohn]

The steamy shower for a few minutes first is the key in the bathroom. Good for the sinusus, too.

 

[Laurent]

The shower is so fine that I'm afraid I may still use it after my darkroom is ready (please don't tell my wife ;-) ).

This and using a wetting agent in the final wash (Tetenal Mirasol in my case) has removed all dust from my negatives.

 

[archphoto]

Simple, easy and more: your shower !!!

Rinse the walls first than hang your film to dry.

Peter

 

[Anscojohn]

Co-ed showering first also has it's advantages, methinks!! (nudge, nudge, wink, wink!)

 

[keithwms]

I have found that a kitchen cabinet works just fine for drying film.