Preventing Or Eliminating Dust In Darkooms

[glbeas]

You migh look into one of those ultrasonic humidifiers. We have one for our bedroom, it shoots a fine mist of water into the air that is absorbed in less than two feet of travel from the machine. It has no lights, no heaters, just a very small fan to push the mist out.

 

[thedarkroomstudios]

It's Christmas -- go buy some red plastic wrap (like for cookie trays) and wrap your humidifier in that (with venting holes of course) if you haven't already dismantled and killed the LEDs -- hey.. you get a free nifty little corner safelight out of the deal

If you use a regular door to the darkroom, consider removing it and make an "L" or if you have space "U" shaped light trap entrance -- the act of opening/closing a regular sized door stirs up all kinds of dust... if this isn't possible, try putting a good floormat under/around the door area to (hopefully) collect and trap much of the dust upon entry. Vacuuming is of course good, don't be afraid to take the lens off and vac the inside of your bellows as well now and then. Always allow time for the dust to re-settle after cleaning and doing other dust-disturbing activities.

Drop ceiling as mentioned is a good idea (as long as it doesn't "fluff" when you open your door) -- a cheap and quick alternative is to staple/tape/glue an old backdrop or heavy sheet to your ceiling to help catch through-the-floor dust; again, only if it won't fluff on entry!

 

[Larry Bullis]

... Vacuuming is of course good, don't be afraid to take the lens off and vac the inside of your bellows as well now and then. Always allow time for the dust to re-settle after cleaning and doing other dust-disturbing activities....

The old Rainbow vacuum cleaner is great for this because it uses a tank of water to trap the dust instead of a bag. All vacuum cleaners blow air around, but the rainbow blows clean, humidified air instead of just less dusty air.

One thing I've always liked about vacuum cleaners is that nature abhors them.

 

[Lee L]

One thing I've always liked about vacuum cleaners is that nature abhors them.

Most cats also abhor vacuum cleaners. The Invisible Hand again? And do UKOGBANI cats abhor hoovers rather than vacuums? One wonders ...

Lee

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

You need to be careful with these. Breathing ozone is unhealthy! People try left and right to consume antioxidants. Ozone is one of the most powerful oxidants in existence. It's not good for your lungs, and it's not good for anything metal, like the silver in your negatives, or the metal of your enlarger.

- Thomas

Ozone Generator to ionize the air and make it static free. The dust becomes heavy and fall to the ground instead of getting airborne. If you can find one with hepa filter,it would be better. They use this in Micro Chip Manufacturing Companies because chips are "very" dust and static sensitive. Obviously their line workers are dressed like astronauts.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Re: Original poster. I used to have a lot of dust problems in the darkroom. Since I started using dry compressed air on my negatives I don't have that problem.

I don't ever vacuum in my darkroom, but I have a hot air furnace blasting hot air into the neighboring room, which is my workshop, and it also generates a lot of dust. I do mop the floor from time to time, and I use some Heico Permawash in the water to remove chemistry stains from the floor, and I clean the enlarger, shelves, and working surfaces with a damp cloth.

I have used a camel hair brush, and I have used the charged brush, I have tried Edwal negative cleaner... It doesn't seem to make any difference. But the compressed air really works for me. I just put the negative in the negative holder, and give it a blast on both sides. With 35mm negs I may use Edwal NoScratch to get rid of small pieces of dust.

I do have dust problems with my cameras, however. I always have dust traces on my 4x5 and 5x7 negatives. Never on medium format and 35mm negs, except what gets stuck on them during drying post processing. That can sometimes be helped with the Edwal No Scratch, but usually means I have to spot my prints.

Hope that helps.

- Thomas

 

[Shmoo]

It's Christmas -- go buy some red plastic wrap (like for cookie trays) and wrap your humidifier in that (with venting holes of course) if you haven't already dismantled and killed the LEDs -- hey.. you get a free nifty little corner safelight out of the deal

Get some ruby lith (most graphics arts stores will have it) and either cut a small piece to cover the LEDs. It's fairly inexpensive stuff and definitely will block the light.