How do you wash your dark cloth?

[Wally]

I've got a Harrison dark cloth: shiny metallic-like waterproof-looking ripstop on one side, black cotton on the other.
It's begun to smell a bit musty since I switched to using a black jacket for my studio camera last year, and I want to put it to use again, on my field camera.
What's the right way to wash one of these without damaging it? If I use bleach I'm afraid of bleaching the inside black to some shade of gray.

[Vaughn]

I'd give the maker a call or email and ask them...

http://www.cameraessentials.com/index.html

Vaughn

[Turner Reich]

...and what about washing the Calumet dark cloths, as with many they have lead weights in the corners.

[Walter Calahan]

I don't.

[Alan Rabe]

I throw my Zone VI in the wash. It also has lead weights. But Lead don't rust. It just bangs around in the dryer.

[Toyon]

I throw my Zone VI in the wash. It also has lead weights. But Lead don't rust. It just bangs around in the dryer.

Doesn't be too sure that it is lead.

[eric black]

Me personally, I would do an in the sink wash with cold water and Woolite which is typically used for very fine/delicate fabrics and then air dry it- IM guessing that if you just air it out by hanging it in a well ventilated place for a while and maybe hit it with a spray or two of Fabreze your problem would be solved and the smell would go away.

[Bruce Watson]

I throw my Zone VI in the wash. It also has lead weights. But Lead don't rust. It just bangs around in the dryer.

It is highly unlikely your weights are lead. Why? Costs too much. Buying and working with lead in the workplace comes with a host of environmental regulations, OSHA workplace safety regulations, and all the requisite accounting procedures. If you gotta have it, you gotta have it, like in the manufacture of batteries.

Corner weights don't have to be lead, and therefore almost certainly are not lead. Probably some cheap steel they got a deal on. Easy to work, safe, hardly any regulations, cheap to buy.

Your corner weights may or may not rust. If the dark cloth manufacturer got a deal on some stainless scrap, you might be in luck. They also might have coated the weights in something like the vinyl on tool handles -- to keep them quiet and less prone to break things like a ground glass when they get whipped around in the wind.

Now I've thought way more about the weights in dark cloths than is probably wise or healthy. ;-)

[Jim Fitzgerald]

I did mine in cold water in the washer and then dry in the dryer. Smells nicer now and did not shrink or cause any problems. I would follow Vaughn's advice though and contact the manufacturer.


Jim

[D. Bryant]

I don't.
Ditto. Use a wet wipe to freshen the cloth.

[Alan Rabe]

What ever they are I've had it for 20 years and washed it a few times and there is no sign of rust coming thru. I know a lot of people like the light weight cloths but I prefer my thick heavy ZONE VI. It makes great padding to wrap the camera in. Can be used as a wind break and on occasion I have even used it for a wrap to keep me warm.

[Drew Wiley]

My darkcloths are made of heavyweight black Goretex. Just hose it off and it drys
quickly. Also breathable yet waterproof. What more could you want? Then I added a few brass grommets and a strip of velcro. The only problem is, that I don't know if Goretex is still made in black. I certainly can't find any more. I'd never use linty cotton. But you can get ripstock nylon which is white one on side, black on the other.

[Geert]

Ditto. Use a wet wipe to freshen the cloth.

Another one here.

It keeps unwanted passers-by at a good distance.

G

[Wally]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone.

I visited their site, got an email through the "contact us" page, and sent off my question. No response back yet.

I'm going to wipe the silvery coated ripstop side with clorox wipes to staunch any mildew, and wait for a response from the maker. Failing a reponse, I'll hand wash.

By the way, the weights seem to be lead (they clunk like lead, and are small for their weight).


// Wally

[Michael Gordon]

I'm told that mine smells like garlic (one fo my staples). Why would I wash off a pleasing aroma? :D

[John Jarosz]

Ya know, I should start thinking about warshin my dark cloth too.

Think it needs it after 25 years?

john

[Bill_1856]

1/2 cup of TIDE, set to warm wash, cold rinse. Dry on Perm Press. Repeat every 20-40 years.

[Tim Povlick]

One particularly rough critic of my work pee-ed on my dark cloth. Even after washing, being underneath it was like sticking one's head in the cat's litter box. I thought I was going to have to pitch it, until some of the stuff for removing pet odors really did work.

I guess my artistic ability has improved as my cat no longer uses my dark cloth as a litter box but in fact goes bonkers rubbing her face on my backpack after returning from a day of shooting.

_ .. --
TiM

[Shen45]

And tell me girls what do we all use to wash our "smalls" :)

[cjbroadbent]

http://i318.photobucket.com/albums/mm440/downstairs_2008/washing.jpg

[Jim Noel]

I don't.

I don't either. I have a few dark cloths theoldest beng a 25-30 year old Calumet.

If they smell musty, just hang them out in the sunlight for a day and the smell should go away.

[Aahx]

I hand wash mine and hang dry them. It always worked for me.

[Brian Ellis]

Turn out all the lights in the bathroom, bring the water temp to 68 degrees, toss it in the sink. Agitate for ten seconds every minute for five minutes, remove, hang it up to dry.

[jeroldharter]

I bought a Calumet dark cloth that is black on the inside and silver/shiny on the outside. I bought it new, but it smelled like it spent a summer in Pakistan so I had to do something.

I put it in cold water in a utility sink, let it soak with a little liquid laundry detergent added, and then rinsed several times in cold water. I air dried it in the garage and now it smells great. Now I can't believe that I put up with the stink at all. Amazing what we get used to.

[C. D. Keth]

You can wash 'em?

Seriously though, I just toss mine in the washer and line dry it.

[Noah A]

I know this is an old question, but did anyone ever get an answer from Harrison about this?

Mine doesn't smell but is visibly dirty. To all you folks who never wash them, don't you ever drop them in the dirt in the heat of the moment or due to a sudden wind gust? If not, I'm impressed ;)

[MIke Sherck]

All of my dark cloths are hand made, ah, "artesian". Yeah, that's it. Artesian.

They get dumped into the laundry. When dry, I hang them outside and spray waterproofing goop all over the light side. This happens once a decade, or less often if not needed. :)

Mike

[E. von Hoegh]

All of my dark cloths are hand made, ah, "artesian". Yeah, that's it. Artesian.

They get dumped into the laundry. When dry, I hang them outside and spray waterproofing goop all over the light side. This happens once a decade, or less often if not needed. :)

Mike

Artesian, eh? So they leap up out of the pack and drape themselves over the camera. I have to get one.

[welly]

I wash my dark cloth like I wash my jeans. Rarely.

[E. von Hoegh]

Seriously, I never thought of washing mine. After 24 years, I think I'll weigh it before and after.

[BrianShaw]

I wash my dark cloth like I wash my jeans. Rarely.

... or as I say... every Saturday when I take a bath. Ha ha ha.

[Drew Wiley]

My darkcloth is black Goretex, so I just suspend it above my darkroom sink and hose it off.

[redrockcoulee]

I was given a darkclothe that rode in the back of a van that was driven only on gravel roads. The photograher who gave it to me figured it had been loose in the back for a very long time as they have been digital since the Kodak DSLRs. I washed it in the washing machine I think or else in the bathtub but it needed it. It was grey on both sides and was not supposed to be and to top it off it was a large one so lots of dust.

[Roger Cole]

I did notice the age of the thread but:


...and what about washing the Calumet dark cloths, as with many they have lead weights in the corners.


I throw my Zone VI in the wash. It also has lead weights. But Lead don't rust. It just bangs around in the dryer.

I had a Zone VI. After I got a BTZS hood, which I like many times better, I tried to wash the Zone VI as it had some grass stains on the white side from using it as a sitting blanket. Thing almost came apart in the wash, shed black fabric goo all over an entire load of clothes. Fortunately another round in the washer took care of the clothes and it all came right out. The Zone VI, well it isn't as dark black, it has places where the cloth is nearly all the way through now, very threadbare where it had been in fine shape. It could be used in a pinch so I kept it.

But really I didn't realize how badly it sucked, in my view, until I got the BTZS. Spendy for what it is, but well worth it.


What ever they are I've had it for 20 years and washed it a few times and there is no sign of rust coming thru. I know a lot of people like the light weight cloths but I prefer my thick heavy ZONE VI. It makes great padding to wrap the camera in. Can be used as a wind break and on occasion I have even used it for a wrap to keep me warm.

Just goes to show - YMMV. :)

[Jim Noel]

I have a few. One of is more than 30 years old and I have never washed one. I occasionally hang them in the sun for a few hours to air out and that keeps them fresh.

[dsphotog]

Hand wash, line dry.

[chassis]

Mine is a dark bath towel. If it gets dirty it will go in the wash.

[gilestown]

I would just hand wash and drip dry.

My dark cloth is double sided black velvet which I sometimes double as a still life background. However now Im shooting more on location it traps the heat. Good for shooting in the cold... not so good in the heat.

[SergeiR]

Well since i made mine from moleskin fabric (yes, i am a) cheap, b) lazy c) like it) - i just throw mine in laundry with black t-shirts.. ;)

[Frank Petronio]

Not that this is the recommended procedure, but a gentle wash with a cup of lemon juice will salvage fishy-smelling rain gear and Polypro, at least until you sweat in them again.

[Alan Gales]

So are you telling us that when you sweat you smell fishy?

[Robert Opheim]

I have two - cold water in the washer and then the dryer. One of mine is a Delta - both are all cloth - I agree with Jim above for other materials.

[Robert Budding]

Just stand it in the corner . . .

[rcmartins]

Wandering through this thread I was a bit surprised that no one with a blackjacket chipped in with their experience. I have one and mine seems to be getting stained on the elastic paths. This is not serious but I am a bit picky with my equipment and would really like to have it pristine. Has anyone noticed that? Anyone solved that? How do you clean it?
thanks

[Keith S. Walklet]

The safest method for cleaning your BLACKJACKET is to follow the instructions on the care label inside the cloth. "Gently hand-wash with a mild detergent. Drip dry."

Those instructions are mainly to preserve the integrity of the silver fabric, which is coated. (edit) The earlier suggestion of using Woolite as a detergent is a good one.

[tgtaylor]

I bought mine, a toyo-view dark cloth, new at the same time that I bought my first LF camera (a Toyo of course) around 2002. I bought the camera, lens, dark cloth, 4 toyo holders, and a toyo loup all at the same time from B&H. Years went by without washing it. Pulling it out from the pack to take a photograph I would tell myself "you really need to launder it" but when the time came to do the laundry it was never included. One reason was probably that it was never with the soiled laundry; it was always somewhere else - in my pack or in the camera case with the camera. Then one day, about a year or so ago, I finally got serious and dug it out when going to the laundry and washed it with the whites. It came out clean, of course, and smelled about the same as before only with a very, very slight detergent smell (I carefully measure out the detergent so that it rinses from the fabric), and looked about the same as before it was washed.

Now years before, when I was about 16, I once went out on horseback too far to make it back to the house that night so I had to camp out. This was in the deep south (Mississippi) during winter so the daytime temperature was warm but it dropped at night. Except for the saddle blanket, I didn't have a sleeping bag or anything else to cover with at night. The fire was nice but you couldn't stay up all night keeping it fed and I recalled reading somewhere that the cowboys in the old west would sleep with their horses to keep warm. Now horses like to sleep standing up and after 15 minutes of pulling down on Sparkey's (that was his name) neck to get him to lay down and him pulling me back up, he finally gave up and laid down and I snuggled up to his breast (never lay on the backside!) between his legs and covered up with the saddle blanket. JESUS, did that blanket smell horsey! I made a promise to myself to wash the saddle blanket more often but now, looking back, I never kept it.

Thomas

[rcmartins]

Thank you Keith. Somehow I missed that instruction label. My fault. And that goes indeed a long to explain why no one ever asked :). My apologies.
Being that the zone that is tainted is on the back, more or less that which rests over the shoulders, I will try to hand-wash just that zone.
Again, thank you.

[gleaf]

Wife side says lazy way spray it down with Fabeeze. Useable now, wash anytime later.

[Jim Noel]

I am planning on washing mine on it 50th birthday. it is only 35 now.
Hang it out in the sunshine and let it air for a day to get rid of the mustiness.

[John Kasaian]

I don't.
My dark cloth can now stand on it's own behind the 'dorff and take it's own photographs:rolleyes:

[Nathan Potter]

I don't either. Mine gets washed when it blows into the ocean or a fresh water stream. Hang it out to dry and then use the backup.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[Jim Graves]

My dark cloth is a black jacket ... not a BLACKJACKET ... but an actual black jacket ... St. John's Bay from J.C. Penney ... so I just wash it.

[Drew Wiley]

I use black Goretex. I just hang it on the line in the darkroom abvove the sink and rinse it off. It's dry in half an hour.

[Andrew O'Neill]

I don't wash mine. I haven't for 13 years. I love the smell of coal mine and sweat, the dirt and the grime. Mine can't quite stand up on its own yet, though. John, I'm impressed.