Lingering Chemistry Effects

[Removed Account]

In the place I am living right now I do not have space for a dedicated darkroom. I am beginning to shoot 4x5, pending payment and arrival of my equipment, and I plan to contact print the negatives on to 5x7 paper. I have two options that I am considering for workspace. One is the bathroom, which is quite small and I would have to find a portable table, or possibly some expandable thing, on which to hold the chemistry trays. Using the bathroom, I would not be able to use my 35mm enlarger as a light source, so I would probably try to find some sort of strong neutral density material to cover a desk lamphead. The other option is to put a desk and smaller table in my bedroom, the desk being for chemistry and the table for the enlarger. There are several concerns that I have, one being poor ventilation in both my bedroom and the bathroom. Both rooms have vents that bring in air from the rest of the house, but nowhere to expel the 'contaminated' air. The other concerns apply to using my bedroom. I am planning on work sessions of up to 4 hours, with breaks at least every hour, as I find prolonged exposure to darkroom chemicals in poorly ventilated rooms gives me headaches. During the breaks I could open both the door and window, both of which will be covered with blackout cloth during work, to clear the air, but I am wondering about any sort of problems arising from trace chemicals in a room where I spend a fair bit of time. Also, the room is carpeted, and while aside from the carpet there is a ratty old rug which I have no problem with getting chemicals on, I am worried about increasing the traces in the air from spilled chemicals taking a while to evaporate. I would like the convenience afforded by having the larger space of my bedroom, but is it just a really bad idea, or would I be OK provided I keep everything clean? I should also add that I plan on working with alternative processes eventually, particularly Van Dyke, Platinum, and Bromoil.

Thanks again,
Justin

 

[gainer]

I had a spare bedroom in my first house that I used. Prints were put in a holding tray and finally washed in the bathtub. A couple of houses and 6 kids later, I had a larger house with two baths and the upstairs bath was bath by appointment only. I didn't let solutions stand longer than needed, and am in my 80th year, and all my kids are grown. My second son died of heart failure at 42, but there was no connection with photographic solutions or fumes. However, I did only rather routine stuff. A lot of stage photography and pictures of kids developed in stuff that was closely related to D-76 and Dektol. My more dangerous bathroom experiments had to do with making super thin cellulose material for covering wings of indoor flying model airplanes. It involved floating a layer of lacquer-like material in water. The only complaint I had about that was one time one of my daughters didn't see the floating stuff and sat down in it thinking her mother had drawn a bath for her. Such screams from such a little girl!

 

[dancqu]

There are several concerns that I have,
one being poor ventilation ... mJustin

No problem. Ventilation and odorous chemistry go
together. Process with odorless chemistry. Dan

 

[juan]

I have my enlarger on top of my washing machine in my laundry room. I make exposures, the put the paper in an old paper box. I take the exposed paper into the bathroom where I do developing. While I'm exposing, I leave the bathroom door open for additional ventilation.

For the trays, I made a sort of shelf from 1 1/2-inch PVC tubing that runs the length of my bathtub and sits on the lip of the tub. That gives me two levels for trays that's equal to the length of the tub. I have no trouble with 11x14 prints.

There are lots of ways around not having a permanent darkroom. Be creative.
juan

 

[Richard Jepsen]

I would strongly recommend not doing alternative processes in a small bathroom or bedroom. Bromoils are very messy and platinum involves toxic chemicals. You can process typical B&W materials in a drum which should work for your situation. A water stop and TF-4 fix will reduced irritants as will use of small trays.