How to clean darkroom materials after use?

Fellipe de Paula · Sep 16, 2009

How to clean the tank (plastic), and the other materials (beakers, funnels, etc)??

Ian Grant · Sep 16, 2009

Just wash as if they were dishes with normal washing up liquids, make sure to fully remove tank seals etc, and rinse well.

Every 6 months to a year give the film spiral a good soak in household bleach and then wash, scrub with old tooth brush, this removes grlatin build up.

Ian

Pepper P · Sep 16, 2009

Stranger to a dark room

I'm a stranger to the dark room as I have never tried SLR. In school we were trained using digital camera already that's why whenever my uncle uses his SLR and works in the dark room, I'm totally ignorant about what's going on around me.

Slixtiesix · Sep 16, 2009

I simply rinse them with water immediately after use. Fixer stains are a real pain to remove if already dried :-(

Uncle Goose · Sep 16, 2009

If they are dirty and have residue inside I always put a little Hydrochloric Acid (HCL) in it and fill it up with water, it does the trick pretty well, just rinse out very well with water afterwards.

alexmacphee · Sep 16, 2009

Hmmm. I haven't washed my tank or spirals since I bought them, and that's several decades ago. I've always figured that a twenty to thirty minute final wash in running water through a fitted hose is going to leave the tank and spiral as washed as washed can be. I haven't noticed any problems, though I may try the bleach wash suggestion on one of my spirals to see if it makes any difference.

Anon Ymous · Sep 16, 2009

The only thing that I find tough to clean is the print developer tray. I always rinse trays/tanks after use, but that's the only one that gets stain. Ideas?

DLawson · Sep 16, 2009

Fellipe de Paula said:
How to clean the tank (plastic), and the other materials (beakers, funnels, etc)??

I use hot tap water, as hot as I can stand, under the running tap. Dissolves just about anything that hasn't set and sheets off quickly in a dish drainer.

I also was wondering what others do. I haven't been in a chem lab in nearly 30 years, so I don't recall what I was told back then.

Rick A · Sep 16, 2009

I simply give everything a thorough rinse in scalding tap water when the session is over.
Rick

fschifano · Sep 16, 2009

The only items in my darkroom that collects stains are the trays used for print developer. I don't worry about it. They're stained and that's that. Aesthetically, it's ugly, but I don't really care about that. Once in a while, I'll scrub them down with a sponge and some soapy water. Some of the built up crud comes off. Some of it stays. No matter, the stains cause no problems. Stop and fix trays are clean after a quick rinse in lukewarm water. The same is true for film tanks and reels. The trick, if you want to call it that, is to not let anything dry and cake up. Just rinse after use and you'll be fine.

Sirius Glass · Sep 16, 2009

Tanks and reels get rinsed in hot water.

Trays get rinsed. If I see stains in the trays then it hit them with dishwashing liquid and cleanser.

Steve

naugastyle · Sep 16, 2009

alexmacphee said:
Hmmm. I haven't washed my tank or spirals since I bought them, and that's several decades ago. I've always figured that a twenty to thirty minute final wash in running water through a fitted hose is going to leave the tank and spiral as washed as washed can be. I haven't noticed any problems, though I may try the bleach wash suggestion on one of my spirals to see if it makes any difference.

I feel pretty much the same way, although I'll give them a soapy wash every once in a while just to be safe. But my recollections from shared darkrooms in high school/college was never ever washing anything, just rinsing.

MattKing · Sep 16, 2009

Rinse in hot water every time.

Every once in a while, I run them through a dishwasher, with little or no dishwasher detergent, and an extended rinse cycle.

Matt

petras@foto.sk · Sep 16, 2009

Chem Kwik Cleaner.

brianmichel · Sep 16, 2009

I use some hot water, let sit, scrub lightly, and let air dry. Haven't had a problem yet!

Sirius Glass · Sep 16, 2009

MattKing said:
Rinse in hot water every time.

Every once in a while, I run them through a dishwasher, with little or no dishwasher detergent, and an extended rinse cycle.

Matt

How do you put into the dishwasher 11x14, 16x20 and 20x24 trays?

Steve

lns · Sep 16, 2009

There's a nice product called Photofinish Soft. I found it at Freestyle or B&H. Because my darkroom is our basement bathroom, I have to clean up any chemical stains on the counter. It works on developer stains in trays, too.

Usually, I find it enough to clean everything with a warm water rinse, sometimes scrubbing with a little dishwashing liquid in a sponge.

-Laura

MattKing · Sep 16, 2009

Sirius Glass said:
How do you put into the dishwasher 11x14, 16x20 and 20x24 trays?

Steve

We have an LG dishwasher with a removable top rack. It will handle a 16x20 tray, but I don't know whether a 20x24 will squeeze in.

Matt

dancqu · Sep 16, 2009

Anon Ymous said:
The only thing that I find tough to clean
is the print developer tray. I always rinse
trays/tanks after use, but that's the only
one that gets stain. Ideas?

A worry some matter or you just like white
and bright? Ignore the stain. Any thing you'd
use to 'force' the stain away could be worse.
If it won't wash no matter. Worry less.

Perhaps a soaping now and then. Dan

marcmarc · Sep 17, 2009

For my reels I use the hottest water possible out of my tap and a dish washing brush to scrub then a paper towel dry. For tanks and my cocktail shakers (which I use to cool down or heat up my working solutions as the case may be) just a rinse in the same hot water and another paper towel dry. This is each time I develop a roll.

Jeff Searust · Sep 17, 2009

I think the main thing to be cleanly about in the darkroom is fixer. Dried fixer can easily become an airborne dust causing spots. --- Also wash any towels that you have in the darkroom after each session.

ozphoto · Sep 17, 2009

Whilst I'm not a "neat freak" by any stretch of the imagination, I do clean my darkroom equipment as I go.
I don't have running water in my darkroom at present, so I use a bucket of water to rinse off funnels, jugs etc as I go. Whilst the film develops, I rinse off my developer jug; i rinse the developer funnel whilst the film is fixing.

Once the film has been processed, I simply soak the reels and tank for about 30mins before allowing to air dry. Maybe once very 6 months, I clean the reels with a toothbrush and leftover toothpaste, ensuring I rinse them thoroughly before putting away.

Trays are rinsed off after processing, whilst the prints wash in my print washer. All up, I probably take another 20 mins to clean up (including wiping down benches and sink area) so that stains don't develop on anything.

archer · Sep 17, 2009

For removing stains in developer trays, use Tarnex. It can be found in most grocery stores and places like K Mart or Wal Mart. It is used for cleaning silver ware and copper ware. Just dip, wait a few seconds and rinse and the tarnish is gone. For cleaning trays, pour, slosh and rinse. Be sure to pour the used Tarnex back into the bottle. I've used the same bottle for 10 years, still works but the volume is getting low. Time for a new bottle.
Denise Libby

bdial · Sep 17, 2009

I have rarely done anything more than rinse my trays, reels, tanks etc. Occasionally I'll use water with a Scotch brite (synthetic steel wool) pad to remove a difficult spot.
I have some concern that soaps or detergents could leave something behind to cause contamination.

I have a devil's advocate question; What is it that soap or detergent is supposed to remove that rinsing cannot?

alexmacphee · Sep 17, 2009

Whilst I can see the rationale for not wanting residues left by cleaning products, I'm pretty sure that household washing up liquid is safe, as it's specifically designed not to leave residues on household crockery, not least for the obvious reason that you don't want it 'tasting' your food ; so in that respect, the issue is more about whether it has any benefit than whether it causes any harm.

Detergents do differ from rinsing, in principle at least, because rinsing is both physical and dissolves water-soluble compounds, whereas detergents are made of bi-polar molecules, one half of which is water-soluble, and the other half fat-soluble, so fats can be held in suspension and rinsed away easily instead of adhering to the surface. I'm not sure what there is in the average developer/fixer that would call for detergent properties to remove, though I'd have to admit that my organic chemistry days are some decades in the past.

How to clean darkroom materials after use?

Fellipe de Paula

Ian Grant

Pepper P

Slixtiesix

Uncle Goose

alexmacphee

Anon Ymous

DLawson

Rick A

fschifano

Sirius Glass

naugastyle

MattKing

Moderator

petras@foto.sk

brianmichel

Sirius Glass

lns

MattKing

Moderator

dancqu

marcmarc

Jeff Searust

ozphoto

archer

bdial

alexmacphee

How to clean darkroom materials after use?

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