Fred Picker's antistatic brush

**Drew Wiley** · 4-Oct-2012, 12:48

I use a triple-filtered air line coming from an oilless compressor. I do general cleaning outside the cleanroom. But then once film is involved I move inside. I blow the holder or film or whatever toward a big industrial antistatic air cleaner. An antistatic blowgun is also
on hand, though I rarely use it unless the humidity is quite low (pretty uncommon in my
climate). I wear a 100% dacron cleanroom smock (long fibers with no lint), and sponge down the Formica countertop so it will be dry just before use. When I need to inspect what I am cleaning, I have a halogen machinist's inspection gooseneck light there too.
Might sound nitpicky to some of you, but that damn smock is one of the smartest investments I have ever made, and only cost $30. I also use either long-fiber chamois cloths or true cleanroom sponges. Just a little extra research can make a huge difference
in keeping dust at bay.

**sergiob** · 7-Oct-2012, 18:16

Buy a fan shaped nylon brush in an art store. Trim it if necessary. Clean it to surgical standards. Then blow air thru the bristles with energy and they will become electrostatically charged. Brush the area to be cleaned in one soft delicate sweep. There you have a one dollar low tech device that does the job and does it well. I have used this method for years on DSLR sensors with great success.

**Gary L. Quay** · 7-Oct-2012, 18:34

I clean my film holders with compressed air before loading. Then I load the all of the film holders, and set the into a pile. After that, I go through the holders again, wiping the film with an anti-static cloth, followed by a blast of compressed air through a fine nozzle. Just before I load the holder into the camera, I swipe it with a soft bristled brush, and (don't laugh) lick the dark slide along where it goes through the top of the holder. That little bit of moisture will trap a lot of dust as you pull the slide out.

--Gary

**Drew Wiley** · 8-Oct-2012, 08:13

I didn't know darkslides came in flavors.

**healyzh** · 10-Oct-2012, 16:10

Originally Posted by Curt

There is Zerostat if it's available, I haven't checked lately.

How well do these work for negatives? I have one for my LP's.

**John Bowen** · 10-Oct-2012, 17:08

I've had my Zone VI static brush (manufactured by Chapman) for about 7 years. Dust has been non-existant since purchasing and religiously using it on my film holders. The brush works as Fred said and if for some reason mine stopped functioning, I would look to replace it with an identical unit.

**Bill, 70's military B&W** · 10-Oct-2012, 18:50

John, there is one on ebay, but it does not have the brush.
Bill

**Larry H-L** · 11-Oct-2012, 12:00

Years ago in a newspaper darkroom we had "static spark guns." You pulled a trigger and a small spark was generated at the tip of the gun, much like the spark used to ignite modern gas stoves.

I think they were originally sold as a device to zap dust from vinyl LP records.

Anyone know if such a thing is still made?

**rich815** · 11-Oct-2012, 12:50

Originally Posted by Larry H-L

Years ago in a newspaper darkroom we had "static spark guns." You pulled a trigger and a small spark was generated at the tip of the gun, much like the spark used to ignite modern gas stoves.

I think they were originally sold as a device to zap dust from vinyl LP records.

Anyone know if such a thing is still made?

Ah, that brings me back. And dates me. One of these:

http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/uploa...b254751bc7.jpg

Not sure if they are still made or not...