The DARKROOM COOKBOOK, Third Edition

4 THE DARKROOM COOKBOOK
DUST-FREE
While a fresh supply of air is of paramount importance to the health and safety of the darkroom
worker, clean, dust-free air is important to the quality of the work. It is an especially
important consideration in areas where fi lm is to be dried.
Many photographers dry fi lm by hanging it in a bathroom. This is a perfectly acceptable
arrangement with the following precautions.
● Remove all towels and area rugs. These are dust magnets and static generators.
● Ideally the fi lm should be hung inside the bathtub or shower with the door closed.
● To rid the bathroom of dust, run hot water for a few minutes to create steam. When the steam
clears, the dust will have settled.
One method for hanging fi lm in a shower is to use a retractable clothesline available from
a home-building or variety store. Install the retractable line above the showerhead, and the
receiving hook on the opposite wall.
Another solution where traffi c is heavy or there is no shower stall is to use a drying bag
or cabinet. Drying bags and cabinets are available from many photo suppliers.
Do not make the mistake of hanging your fi lm in a clothes closet unless a drying bag is
used. You will have negatives so full of dust they will be unprintable.
ELECTRICAL CURRENT
The electrical demands of a darkroom are not great. One outlet with a four-plug adapter or
a good power strip with multiple outlets is often suffi cient for a closet or temporary
darkroom.
If you are building the darkroom from the ground up, take a moment to tally the total
wattage of all the electrical equipment you plan to use—enlarger, timer, lights, safelights, drier,
dry-mount press, slide viewer, and so on. Divide the total wattage by 120 volts (or whatever
voltage you will be using). The result is the number of amperes of current that would be
drawn if everything were on at the same time. Add 10% to 20% for growth. Then provide
one or more circuits suffi cient to carry the current demand in amperes. Common circuits are
15 amperes. However, by using larger wiring, you can have 20- or 30-ampere circuits.
Always use reset-type circuit breakers instead of replaceable fuses. If possible, locate the
breakers close to the area served by the circuit. It’s a smart idea to put the lights on one circuit
and everything else on a separate circuit. Then, if a momentary overload trips the circuit
breaker, you won’t be “left in the dark.”
A second circuit dedicated to the enlarger only will help minimize voltage fl uctuations. If
that’s not possible, use a constant-voltage transformer between your enlarger and the outlet.
A small darkroom should have at least four outlets, more if needed. Locate two of them
spaced conveniently along the wall, and one each above the sink and enlarger bench. If the
darkroom is in a basement, locate the outlets high in case of fl ooding.
On the wet side, locate the outlet high above the sink and use a ground-fault interrupter
(GFI) outlet in case an appliance is dropped into a solution or develops a short. GFIs are