Steve - Normally October is the driest hottest month of the year here on the Bay. With the big industrial air cleaner running, I'd first wipe down the Formica countertop with a clean microfiber cloth to humidify things a bit before handling unexposed film, or I might get a little lighting-like static mark using a registration punch. But this year ... Gosh, had six inches of rain over about 18 hrs just two days ago. It's possible to buy actual anti-static Formica soaked in silver nitrate, but it's damn expensive. There are also grounded gloves available from cleanroom houses that cater to the local electronics tech industry. I have air ionizers and an antistatic air gun on hand if needed, but rarely bother with them.

I don't like the idea of humidifiers in the film room or around my high-end enlargers and lenses. There are simpler solutions, and by doing certain tasks just certain months helps quite a bit. Normally I'd be doing a lot of drymounting in Nov and Dec while things cool down but aren't very wet yet, but this year is tuning out odd. But our drought needs all the rain we can get.