> I set up a temporary darkroom in Turkey where the dust was uncontrollable
> (I swept out about a dustpans' worth a day -- from a 5 x 15' space) but I
> had no trouble with my negatives since I dried them in a clean cabinet.
> > Maria Daniels
My experience is a lot like Maria's -- how clean the whole space is isn't
the issue. My darkroom is totally below-grade
with no access for vents, ducts or pressure systems.It also adjoins both
an area where carpentry (!) is done and a boiler room. What I finally
figured out was that I didn't need to keep the whole place
dust-free -- I only had to keep about 1 1/2 square inches (small
format negative) dust free. Besides, a lot of my troubles weren't dust,
but clingies that looked like dust that no amount of blowing
removed, and who knew where they came from?
The solution was, first, Static Master. Soft bristles do not scratch the
film, and that itty bit of pololonium or whatever is less radioactivity
than the dial on your watch. (I use a wide static master for 4x5 and the
outdated brush is excellent for brush-development of sheet film. It's
difficult to get the refills, anyway. )
Equally important, I've attached a plastic handle to my lupe so I can
hold it with one hand and examine negative (angled so glancing light
shows protuberances) with sharpened stick (doctor's swab-type
"applicator" stick from drug store, which doesn't scratch) in other hand.
Remaining foreign matter, now visible, is easily picked up by the stick.
Honest.
Judy
PS. However, in any darkroom a good habit is wiping neck &
shoulders of all bottles before pouring. I once had a real problem with gunk
in/on negatives, finally traced to bottle of foto flo that had debris from
masonry work on it. I was contaminating the final bath. Honest.