OT: drying negatives in the shower

[brambor]

I have an issue with dust particle in my house. When I dry negatives funny things happen in 2 hours...if you know what I mean.<P>So I was thinking that the bathroom should have higher humidity than any other room in my house. With higher humidity the dust will not circulate through the air. If I dried my negatives hanging in the shower stall would it be more effective in combatting dust?

[al_kaplan1]

Yes. Run the shower for a few minutes to help take the dust out of the air. Use cold, not hot! Try to keep the door closed and people out of the bathroom while they dry.

[bob_mcbob]

The standard technique is to run the shower for a little bit (or have someone take a shower) so it's nice and muggy in the room. As it settles, the dust particles settle too, and your film ends up nice and clean.

[________1]

I use to run straight hot until the bath was filled with steam, then hang em. Also, use photoflow to eliminate water spots on the negs.

[huw_finney]

For a while I have had HEPA filterd positive pressure air (fan blowing IN via the filters) in my darkroom. no dust problem now.

[jorge]

Rene,

 

I bought one of those plastic covers for several suits that have a zippered closure. Sorta like a garment bag for half a dozen suits (or better yet overcoats). Added a pair of wire coat hangers where I clip the films to, and a piece of blotter paper in the bottom to catch the drippings. Makes a dandy film drying cabinet and cost me only a few pesos. I've been procrastinating to add a hair dryer.

[jim_a]

Rene, Are you scanning your film?

 

The reason I ask is, a few years ago when I got back into developing my film I started out drying in the shower. The problem was you have to weigh the end of the film down with a clip or clothespin or a smashed cartridge, or something. That tension left my film with a nice little hump from one set of sprocket holes to another.

 

The downside to this was trying to get film strips into the scanner holder. The bulge would make contact with the top lid and throw off the centering.

 

I know you can put your negs under a heavy book for a day for so and they will flatten, but I didn't want to wait another day.

 

Instead I went back to the old method when everything was dried in a Sen-Rac on the reels.

 

I constructed my own "sen-rac" dryer from a vent made for a clothes dryer and a fan from a computer for air flow. Now I reverse roll the film after washing, dip it in photo-flo and insert it into the dryer for a few hours.

 

When the film comes off the reel its perfectly flat and does not curl -- well, just a tad at the beginning of the roll. Now my bathroom is useable since the dryer is tucked away in a closet and I don't have to worry about creating a dust storm.

[Tony Rowlett]

I don't even run the shower any more, I just make sure to shut the door almost all the way so to keep some air flow. And I don't walk in to check on the negs until about an hour so as not to stir up the dust.

[paulr]

In the winter where I live it is not an issue. Summer is murder as the red dirt on the

property (like on mars) becomes silt like. It gets into everything especially if it is windy.

 

I use a filtered dryer in the bathroom but have not tried the shower trick. Sounds like a

very good solution to use along with the dryer.

[billc1]

Rene, I used to have that problem too with scratches and spots on the film. Run fresh water no less than 30 minutes while the film is still in the reel. Next step dunk it in photo flo made by kodak for 30 seconds and I personally hang mine in the dusty workshop with no problems.

[dennis_couvillion]

Ditto, Tony.

[shambrick007]

Wow! And I was feeling sad cuz the only place I HAD was the shower. Now I feel better :-) I'll try the "run the water first" trick also. Thanks!

[sabrina_h.]

I always dry mine in the shower. I have to hang it high on a clothes line or my cat will pull

it down (and have in the past).

[brambor]

Yep. So it's drying in the shower right now while my wife started pleading for my 6 year old to take a bath... (You can't win but you can't stop trying...)<P>I ran the shower and for the first time again Ii used the film washer. I abandoned the use of film washer a while ago in fear I have some mineral deposits but today I used it hoping the problem is dust. <P>

[billsr]

Yes! Drying film in the shower works quite well as long as you make sure you turn the water off! ;>)

[claudia__]

the shower is the best place. make sure you adjust your thermostat so that the heat or AC doesn't come on while you are drying and stir up the dust.

[brambor]

Thanks everyone. I think it worked very well.

[douglas k.]

I've always built darkrooms in unfinished sections of my basements. I usually build film-drying cabinets between two wall studs. Simply string some wire (threaded thru clothespins) between two studs, hang a piece of flat wood (particle board, or whatever is lying around) with some hinges and a magnetic latch, and you've got a dust-proof film drying cabinet. The truly fussy could line it with contact paper to make it easier to clean, and could also improvise a hole for inserting a blow dryer to speed up the process. But I usually just hang the negs for a day or so, then find them to be almost perfectly dust-free and dry.

[sandler]

I always come to these threads too late, but I built myself one of these quick and dirty film dryers in no time flat:

<p> <p>

<a href=http://www.shutterbug.net/features/0902sb_how/index.html>www.shutterbug.net/features/0902sb_how/index.html</a>

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I hang it in the shower, it dries my negs quick and dust/scratch-free on the reels. There is some gentle curl from being dried on the reels, but it's <i>much</i> easier to deal with then the other direction of curl that can come with hanging.

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If you try it, you won't go back!