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Smell - Can I develop film in my bathroom without annoying my roomates

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Sully75

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I'm very close to starting developing 120 and 5x7 film. All the equipment gathered.

I'm scanning and printing digitally. I just need to develop the negatives.

Can I do this safely and responsibly in my bathroom? I have two pretty patient and cool roomates. I don't want to poison them, and I want to still be able to use the tub. I'd like the bathroom not to smell too badly afterwards.

Any tips/hints/suggestions? I also have a cold basement with no running water.
 
My "darkroom" is a very small closet, and I really don't notice the smell even with chemicals in open trays. As long as you wash everything thoroughly after you're done, there's no risk of poisoning.
 
No problem. Have at it. You will not poison anyone....c'mon, now. Mix your stop bath with developer and follow with healthy rinse of tap water when you pour it down the drain (easier on your pipes), and save your used fixer. You can take the silver out yourself, or drop it off at a hazardous waste disposal center. If you don't like the smell, use a special piece of equipment that is slangily known as a C-47.
 
Piece of cake. Virtually nothing you'll use to dev film is even remotely toxic, nor malodorous. Worst would be stop bath, and you don't even need that.

Bathroom exhaust fan will dissipate what little smell there might be. Hard to imagine that it hasn't hosted much-worse human-source smells. :smile:
 
Posted wirelessly..

For the first couple of weeks my kids said the bathroom smelled funny. But we all got used to it. Other than the sporty green tint in their eyes, I have noticed no ill effects.
 
Sully75 said:
I'm very close to starting developing 120 and 5x7 film. All the equipment gathered.

I'm scanning and printing digitally. I just need to develop the negatives.

Can I do this safely and responsibly in my bathroom? I have two pretty patient and cool roomates. I don't want to poison them, and I want to still be able to use the tub. I'd like the bathroom not to smell too badly afterwards.

Any tips/hints/suggestions? I also have a cold basement with no running water.
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**********
Working on the road and also in apartments, I developed and printed in bathrooms. Of the basic chemicals, nothing is particularly hazardous nor smelly; nothing will harm the procelin.
Biggest "problem" was my new bride plaintively asking outside the bathroom door "Are you done Yet?"
 
Citric acid stop bath can substitute for acetic acid stop bath, if you don't like the smell of vinegar.
 
MikeSeb said:
Piece of cake. Virtually nothing you'll use to dev film is even remotely toxic, nor malodorous. Worst would be stop bath, and you don't even need that ...
Click to expand...
That can't be stated quite so bluntly - at least some of your basic film developers have components that are moderately toxic if you use them stupidly.

Used with the most rudimentary care, they are fine and I don't concern myself at all. Just don't get the liquids in your stomach, lungs etc. The smell is fine.

You can work with low stink items if your roommates object to the vinegar smell from stop bath and fix. Rinse with water instead of acid stop, and use a neutral or alkaline fix and the odor issues should not exist for even the most sensitive noses.

Xtol or other similar vitamin C / ascorbic acid based developers are designed for lowest toxicity and reduced environmental impact. Bonus is that they are good developers.
 
Tell your room mates that the stress of not having a darkroom gives you very serious bowl problems... the result of which is far more fowl than any chemical. If they don't believe you then mix a tiny batch of good old sepia toner (smells like rotten eggs) then leave a jar lid of it behind the toilet and tell them you're having darkroom withdrawal symptoms.
 
The smell won´t be too much. Stop bath isn´t necessary for film development in my opinion, just do an intermediate rinse with water. Be aware that some of the chems can leave stains after they´ve dried up, especially the fixer can be very persistent, so clean everything immediately after you´re done. Then it shouldn´t be of concern.

Regards, Benjamin
 
If bathroom fans can deal with organically produced methane and odiferous other byproducts, it can deal with fixer smell.
 
some of the sprint photo chemistry smells like vanilla ...
and it works VERY well ...
 
Sully75 said:
I'm very close to starting developing 120 and 5x7 film. All the equipment gathered.

I'm scanning and printing digitally. I just need to develop the negatives.

Can I do this safely and responsibly in my bathroom? I have two pretty patient and cool roomates. I don't want to poison them, and I want to still be able to use the tub. I'd like the bathroom not to smell too badly afterwards.

Any tips/hints/suggestions? I also have a cold basement with no running water.
Click to expand...

Basically all the typical chemicals won't throw off obnoxious smells. Even stop-bath isn't that big a deal, smell-wise.

The only chemicals which will cause issues are polysulphide toners (+sepia, etc.). You won't be using those for run-of-the-mill film development.
 
Mike1234 said:
Tell your room mates that the stress of not having a darkroom gives you very serious bowl problems... the result of which is far more fowl than any chemical. If they don't believe you then mix a tiny batch of good old sepia toner (smells like rotten eggs) then leave a jar lid of it behind the toilet and tell them you're having darkroom withdrawal symptoms.
Click to expand...

Well played, Mike. Never would have seen that one coming. Very nice indeed...
 
Isn't there some stong smelling stuff called Axe?
 
The only regular chemicals that smell are the stop bath which smells like a stong vinegar.
 
I find the photography smells are much better than those odors that come from what the bathroom is designed for!

I use one bathroom to develop film & the other I have set up as a darkroom.
 
I never had any problems as long as I opened a window for 5 minutes after developing.
And my chemistry always smelled a bit like vinegar.
 
I've quite frequently used a bathroom for a darkroom. Yes, the odors have been a problem, but I find if I clean the bathroom before using it for a darkroom its not so bad.

Personally I've never had a problem (or complaints from the family) about my darkroom odors. I either use Kodak Indicator Stop Bath or just mix my own from glacial acetic acid. Haven't used more stinky types of toner, usually thiorea types.
 
Ensure that you clean up thoroughly, though as people can have sensitive skin and allergies to some of the chemistry. I once got a text message from a housemate saying:

Bro, my face was on fire when I had a wash, did you put fixer down the sink?
 
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