Paper safes

laser · Dec 17, 2022

I offer a caution if you use the old metal "garage door" style paper safes. The rolling door mechanism contains some cadmium. With use, tiny pieces can drop on to the paper. If it remains on the emulsion surface a few days it will cause a tiny black spot after it is developed. I tossed my garage door safes and use the Premier safes.

DREW WILEY · Dec 17, 2022

Sometimes velcro wears out. It can be replaced, but is not as secure as latches. We just had a 3.6 earthquake last night, with the epicenter just a few blocks away. Nothing got damaged; but a carelessly lying around paper safe improperly secured might get its lid shaken by an even bigger quake. I always leave the paper inside the inner black plastic box liner anyway, or if film, inside their own closed clamshell boxes inside the safe once the darkroom work session is over. Sometimes the light-tight flap between sections of the lid on the big safes loosens up, and I need to place layers of black tape over that seam. Some of these Doran-Premier style ABS plastic safes have seen more than 35 years of hard use by myself, so a bit of maintenance is inevitable.

henryyjjames · Dec 30, 2022

MattKing said:
If you are dealing with students in a group darkroom, you need paper safes!

YUUUP. Hahhaha .

Greygram · May 12, 2025

I see it’s been a while since this was posted, but I just wanted to ask—has anyone tried using photo paper boxes sealed with black masking tape as a lightweight paper safe? I’ve been doing that for short sessions, and it seems to work fine, but I’m curious if others noticed fogging over longer periods. Also wondering how well DIY wood safes hold up in humid darkrooms?

Terrence Brennan · May 12, 2025

Greygram said:
I see it’s been a while since this was posted, but I just wanted to ask—has anyone tried using photo paper boxes sealed with black masking tape as a lightweight paper safe? I’ve been doing that for short sessions, and it seems to work fine, but I’m curious if others noticed fogging over longer periods. Also wondering how well DIY wood safes hold up in humid darkrooms?

I used to do just that, until I bought three paper safes.

I regularly used three part boxes in which 50 sheets of 8x10 sheet film is packaged. The problem is that the corners of the boxes will eventually wear and leak light. It was my practice to reinforce the outer corners of the outer box with black masking tape, and the inner corners of the inner box with the same tape. I found that trying to reinforce the corners of the second box would make it difficult, if not impossible, to have it “nest” between the inner and outer boxes.

Two part boxes work fine, and I used them until I was able to acquire those theee part boxes. At the end of a printing section I would slip the two part box into the black plastic bag in which 11x14 paper is packaged.

Bear in mind that the boxes are cardboard and will eventually wear until they are unusable. But then they make great storage containers for prints, with that special patina that comes only with years of handling!

Sirius Glass · May 12, 2025

Anarchyth said:
I just use a light-tight plastic storage box with a tight-fitting lid and keep it closed between pulls. Haven't had any fogging issues with paper stored that way for months.

Welcome to Photrio!

I use the paper box and the black plastic and have never had a paper fogging problem.

snusmumriken · May 12, 2025

As this thread has been re-opened, I'd like to add that while I'm sure I'd find a paper safe easier, I use the time as I open the drawer, pull out the box, open the plastic bag and extract a sheet of paper, scribble on the back, re-fold the bag, etc, etc ... to check that I have stopped down the enlarger lens, inserted a grade filter and re-set the timer.

DREW WILEY · May 12, 2025

I was curious about what was new on this thread. One new contribution would be some kind of safe you could lock up the students in, instead. That would probably do the most to prevent paper waste and equipment damage.

Paper safes

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