Making my dark room darker

[John Kasaian]

Because of health reasons I've got to start printing during the daytime and my current dark room frankly isn't up to the task.
I figure I'll push pin my focusing cloth over the window to block any dim light which leaks around the cardboard. That leaves the threshold and door frame of the door (which opens onto a hall way which is dim, but not dark during daytime) A carpet can help the threshold but the frame is my current issue. Any ideas?:confused:

[Ari]

John, I once stapled some black mat board to the edges of my door, oversized so when the door was closed, the board covered the gaps in the frame, and blocked outside light from coming in.

[vinny]

Fold over a piece of duvetyne or black felt and staple it to the bottom of the door (on darkroom side) as a flap. Black ripstop will work too.
Black weatherstip around the frame or more felt.

[matthew blais]

I just have a curtain rod with two black sheets sewn together I hang across and above the door during daytime

[John Kasaian]

Thanks guys!

[Greg Lockrey]

I made a "tent" in my two car garage out of black visqueen, the material used for gardens and drop cloths. It be dark....;)

[Rick A]

You can tape a blach trash bag over the window. As to the door, hit Wally world for a length of the heaviest black material you can find to cover it with. I found a heavy black nylon type material with a black vinyl backing at Wallys and velcro'd it up. I can remove when not in use, and slap it up when necessary. I used an off cut from it to cover my window

[Tori Nelson]

I use the flexible, but very strong, foam rubber type of weather stripping made for the bottom of garage doors. It's much wider than normal weather stripping and works perfectly.

[Jim Noel]

You can tape a blach trash bag over the window. As to the door, hit Wally world for a length of the heaviest black material you can find to cover it with. I found a heavy black nylon type material with a black vinyl backing at Wallys and velcro'd it up. I can remove when not in use, and slap it up when necessary. I used an off cut from it to cover my window

Not all black trash bags will work. I had a student who set up a darkroom in her apartment and had severe fogging problems. I went over to see if I could help. Trash bags had been doubled and taped over the window. Within 2 or 3 minutes i could have read a newspaper in the room.

[ROL]

Use gaffers tape to seal your light block (any totally opaque material) within window. Gaffers (Home Depots, etc.) is made to come off easily without harming surfaces.

Use weather stripping around the door and install a sweep at the bottom. Lastly, as mentioned, hang a heavy fabric (cheap vinyls - Jo-Anns, etc.) from a shower rod installed above the inside of the door.

Or...

I could stop by on my next furtive trip through old F'berg, after lunch at one my old haunts: Dicicco's, Me'n Eds, or Javier's. I've been told quite often that I darken any door I pass through. :D

[Mark Sawyer]

If there is more than 1/8" of space around the door frame, I'd go with the self-adhesive weather-stripping. If the doors have a fairly close fit, I'd just paint the frame black. It's like the light-trap on your lensboards and film holders; would you want those painted a nice reflective white? :)

[chassis]

I hang a dark-proof curtain in front of the darkroom door, hung by a rod over the door. I found it at Bed, Bath & Beyond, and it is sold as a lightproof window treatment. It works well.

[Michael Kadillak]

I ended up putting two layers of dense cloth over my darkroom windows because one layer did not get it light tight and I could see light leakage during the daylight hours. You do what you need to do to get it sealed up adequately. Having a space to have a darkroom is a special opportunity but it needs to be functional and serve its purpose.

Anyone that has built a darkroom always talks about what they want to incorporate in their "next" one. I fit that billing.

[John Olsen]

Buy lots of the black plastic sheeting that's used for moisture control inside of house walls. It's cheap and it's quite black. Two layers of that on windows and a one layer flap on the door edges will probably take care of you.

[dsphotog]

I've used the backing paper from 120 film, taped or stapled
(black side facing the door)to the inside of the door overlaping the gaps.

[ic-racer]

I recently ordered blackout blinds from these folks. When I get them installed I'll post an evaluation.

http://www.seesawusa.com/products/112

[Steve Smith]

Not all black trash bags will work. I had a student who set up a darkroom in her apartment and had severe fogging problems.

Slightly related, when there are roadworks being carried out near me and road signs need to be covered up (e.g. to temporarily make a one way street into two way) workmen cover up the signs with black bin bags.

When they go home and it gets dark, these signs which are illuminated light up and the bags covering them are so thin that they might as well not be there.

A good tip I learned a while ago is that it is difficult to get material which is 100% light proof. Most materials have some pinhole sized holes. However, with two layers of the same material, the chances of having pinholes in the same position are equal to winning the jackpot on the lottery and can be considered 100% light proof


Steve.

[imagedowser]

A side benefit to black plastic used in large sheets is it attracts dust which then can be wiped off with a damp cloth. "...plastic practically sucked dust out of the air and was easy to clean with a damp cloth." Ctein, Post Exposure 2nd ed. Chapter 13, My Darkroom.

[David R Munson]

Depending on the situation, I've been pleasantly surprised at what can be accomplished using black felt and an appropriate sort of tape. For pinholes and small light leaks, black masking tape works wonders.

[Mark Sawyer]

An excellent 100% light-proof material that is cheap and easy to work with is aluminum foil.

[Scott Walker]

A side benefit to black plastic used in large sheets is it attracts dust which then can be wiped off with a damp cloth. "...plastic practically sucked dust out of the air and was easy to clean with a damp cloth." Ctein, Post Exposure 2nd ed. Chapter 13, My Darkroom.

I built a temporary darkroom in the unfinished basement of a rental home a long while ago. I used a double sheet of heavy black construction poly to partition the darkroom off. It was stapled to the floor joists above and I had 2x4s holding the sheets down on the concrete floor. The door was a simple double light trap using the poly. The material proved to be completely light tight but it caused such an enormous amount of static that I finally resorted to misting it and the floor with water prior to printing or unloading/loading film in order to control the dust. I imagine the 30 feet of poly 9 feet high in a double layer that constantly rubbed together every time a door opened or shut anywhere in the house contributed to the problem, but I certainly did not find the poly sucking the dust out of the air.

[Pete Roody]

Delta makes 10 mil blackout vinyl. I close-off my alley kitchen opening with it and velcro. If you can live with velcro around your openings, it makes for quick set-up and take-down of the material.

[Chuck P.]

I've seen some really good ideas here on how to handle light leaks around the door, love the one with large garage door weather stripping, light proofing the door is one of my upcoming projects for my darkroom I'm preparing.

But here is how I've approached blackening my windows, a little more time consuming but not that bad. This is a bedroom turned into a darkroom. The idea is predicated on the necessity that I am able to gain immediate access to the window and still utlilize the window light as needed for evaluating prints, toning, etc...having light and returning to darkness is very quick, free of hassel. I refer to them as "portals". Two 11/32 pieces of plywood are glued and screwed together. But first, the outside piece is cut to allow access to the window and allow much light, the inside piece is cut proportionally larger (that piece used for the portal cover) with a significant light trap overlap painted flat black. Foam rubber weather seal is attached to the back and prevents light from entering between the plywood and the wall when the unit is screwed down---cost, about $30 each.

[David de Gruyl]

for the door, I have molding with black foam on the outside of the door (the door opens inwards) which seals around the top and sides. 10-20 minutes to install. I might have run gaffers tape along the inside to eliminate the space between the molding and the door jamb.

On the bottom, I use a black cloth snake filled with rice. I have tried a sweep in my old darkroom, and found that this works better and doesn't fall off or permanently damage the door (the only two options).

For windows, I use two layers of black plastic and a light proof curtain. All are stapled tight to the wall outside the window frame (over a bump).

Now if I could figure out how to get the LED on the fire alarm to be disabled... (I use tape on that).

[blevblev]

It's easy. Just get yourself a darkbulb. You screw it in to a light socket, and when you turn it on, the room gets dark.

See: http://darkbulb.org/default.aspx

[dmschnute]

Here is another approach to the problem.

Most of the equipment in our darkroom is top secret, so
we can’t talk about it. But we can tell you that our
darkroom is darker than anyone else’s darkroom. This is
because we use only imported dark from deep within the
depths of Jewel Cave. It is bottled for us especially
by H ... & J ..., who know where the most
salubrious dark may be found. This dark is so intense
that you may find globs of it clinging to your prints.
It is easily removed with turpentine and a wire brush.

The tricky part is locating the highest-quality source.
Not all Caves are suitable sources. And, like all dark-sources,
the smallest leak in the room will will deplete it rapidly.