Darkroom in laundry room?

[Ralph Miyashiro]

I need some advice. I am finally getting serious about building a darkroom. My first consideration is my laundry room, of course it's got electricity, water and a drain. It is also light tight as I currently use it for my "darkened room", loading film, contact printing but no enlarging. I am worried about dust from the clothes dryer. Am I asking for a load of frustration using this room for enlarging? When I contact print I wipe the surfaces down and the room doesn't seem any dustier than any other part of the house (maybe even cleaner) and I don't have dust problems with the contacts, but what about enlarging? Any one else have the enlarger in the laundry room? My other option is building a shed outside the main house. I can get electricity and cold water (no hot) out there, but no drain. Please advise.

[Jon Shiu]

I would say just do it. Learn how to make sure there is no dust on your negative and you will be fine. We had a darkroom in a carpeted bedroom for a few years and had no problems.

Jon

[vinny]

my friend Per Volquartz had his darkroom in the laundry room and I don't recall seeing any issues with his prints. Keep your stuff clean, maybe don't run the dryer while you're printing. Hell, put up a clothes line and sell the dryer. Tell your wife it got stolen.

[Mark Stahlke]

Keep the dryer's lint screen clean to minimize the dust in the room.

[jermaineB]

my friend Per Volquartz had his darkroom in the laundry room and I don't recall seeing any issues with his prints. Keep your stuff clean, maybe don't run the dryer while you're printing. Hell, put up a clothes line and sell the dryer. Tell your wife it got stolen.

Lol! Funniest thing I've read all day cause I thought about the same thing but I'd die laughing with the expression my wife would give me if I told her that!

[Jim Edmond]

My darkroom is in the laundry and furnace room. I held off a long time in building it there, but it was the only space available. Dust hasn't been a problem.

[Dan Henderson]

I wonder if the humidity often present in a laundry room might somehow offset the dust from the dryer. I would be more worried about the dust getting on my wet negatives after development, but presumably you have already fought that battle.

[Sylvester Graham]

I use my bedroom as a darkroom at night. Good prints are possible in unlikely, less than industrial clean room conditions. A few photographers had darkroom alcoves in other purpose rooms. Weston had a single lightbulb enlarger. I've even heard of folks developing film in a river in a rainforest at night during vietnam.

[Pawlowski6132]

Dryers will produce dust in the air. Period. What's your tolerance for dust on your equipment? Is the room well ventilated? Is it small enough to run an air purifier??

[Brian Ellis]

I used a laundry room as a darkroom for about five years. It worked fine, I didn't have any greater dust problems in it than I've had anywhere else. I didn't dry negatives in the darkroom, I hung them in a bathroom to dry.

My laundry room/darkroom had no real ventilation. I set up a fan on the end of the room opposite the door, blowing over the chemical trays that I put on the washer and dryer. I kept the fan on all the time and kept the door open except when the room had to be dark. The idea was for the fan to blow the chemical fumes out the open door. It apparently worked, I'm still alive. You might be surprised at how little of the time a darkroom actually has to be dark.

[Sevo]

Dryers will produce dust in the air. Period.

Dryers connected to an external exhaust won't add to the dust inside. Handling the laundry might, though.

[Ari]

Like Brian, I use a small, separate washroom to hang my film; it's easy to control the dust in there.
When I bring the negs to the laundry room/darkroom, a shot of compressed air will take care of any dust.

[Ralph Miyashiro]

Thanks Powlowski,

I can tolerate just about anything, even if it drives me to distraction, like dust on negatives, which I hate, but can tolerate. Thanks for the suggestion of an air purifier/filter. That might be the green light.

[Cletus]

My darkroom has been in the laundry room for about 5 years now and never had any unusual dust issues. I hang my film to dry over the laundry sink (my only sink) and ask my wife not to use the dryer, or do anything, in there when film is drying.

My enlargers are set up in the adjascent walk-in closet (which was emptied of clothes and other closet items) and serves as my dry side. I am reasonably careful to keep it clean, but I'm not a neat freak and have never had any significant dust problems while elarging, or any other time. I still keep a couple cans of dust-off handy when printing and a blower brush or two, but that's pretty much good practice for any darkroom, laundry or not.

I'm of the "go for it" opinion, like several others here. You'll be glad you did. Speaking for myself, my darkroom is one of my most prized bits of photography gear!

[John Kasaian]

How do you guys deal with all the dusty, linty crud that accumulates under and behind the washer & dryer? Do you move the applances when you mop the floor?

[boswald]

Growing up, I used darkrooms in laundry room, pump cellar, bathrooms,under a barn, a furnace room(next to a coal bin). No wonder I enjoy my attic! Of course, I also walked three miles to school, Kneedeep in the snow, uphill both ways!

[joselsgil]

How do you guys deal with all the dusty, linty crud that accumulates under and behind the washer & dryer? Do you move the applances when you mop the floor?

Use a shop vac to remove dust and use a air purifier.

[C. D. Keth]

If I had any other choice of locations, I would take almost anything over a laundry room darkroom. That said, you use what you have. A laundry room darkroom would be better than my current solution of kneeling in the bathroom developing film in the tub.

[Ironage]

I am setting up a darkroom right now in my laundry room so I appreciate all the tips. I made my first enlargements last night, and there was some dust, but I really don't have any good ways to dust off the negative yet. The biggest advantage of large format is that dust is much smaller problem because of the degree of enlargement. Try eliminating dust and scratches from 16mm negatives and large format becomes wonderful!

[Graybeard]

Growing up, I used darkrooms in laundry room, pump cellar, bathrooms,under a barn, a furnace room(next to a coal bin). No wonder I enjoy my attic! Of course, I also walked three miles to school, Kneedeep in the snow, uphill both ways!

Isn't everything uphill anywhere from where you are in Vermont? Seemed that way when we were backpacking on the Long Trail.

[Jim Jones]

My darkroom was in the laundry room for too many years. I got very good at spotting prints. An electrostatic air cleaner helped a little.

[John Olsen]

I plumbed a darkroom into a laundry room in Albuquerque and a bathroom in Denver. In both cases I kept the enlarger in the next room with black plastic over the windows. To keep down dust problems the laundry and the bath became dedicated to photography in each case. I dried film in a bedroom closet. Maybe the neighbors wondered what was behind the aluminum foil window coverings, but I stayed out of their drug deals in exchange. Just keep wiping surfaces down, preferably the night before, and you should be OK. Oh yes, use a lint filter when you do laundry (at the laundromat) and wear clean clothes when you work in your darkspace. Good luck.

[Frank Petronio]

Are you a man or a mouse? Set it up in the best location, like the kitchen, and tell them it's important, end of story. Remember you are the photographer, everything else is secondary.

[ic-racer]

Make sure you get an AIR FILTER, not an AIR PURIFIER. One cleans the air of dust and the other is a new-age device that makes you more healthy, live longer ( ha!).
Also, realize that dust on the wet emulsion will permanently adhere to the film. It won't come off later. So, that is the crucial time. Dust on the negatives when they are dry is only a nuisance. Dust on wet negatives is potential permanent damage.

[Ralph Miyashiro]

Are you a man or a mouse? Set it up in the best location, like the kitchen, and tell them it's important, end of story. Remember you are the photographer, everything else is secondary.

Frank, Your comments always make so much sense. It is important, so no shared space. No mixing with my three main activities, eat, shi*, sleep. What's left over? What about the living room? I can't remember the last time I shared tea and crumpets with my genteel neighbors. It is the most underutilized room in the house. Time to rethink.

[Rafal Lukawiecki]

My laundry room is in my darkroom, just once a week, on Thursdays. That is the day when I might admonish our cleaning lady to remove any extra dust she created, after she is finished with laundry. The rest of the week we have peace, helped with naturally humid Irish air.

I do not dry film there, however, preferring a shower enclosure, instead.