I got to go to the bathroom

kshapero

kshapero

South Florida Man
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Since my kids left home, my wife and I have moved 4 yrs ago to a townhouse. One of our bathrooms does not get used much. It has no windows and would make a jolly good darkroom. I even found some trays, etc in a box in the garage. How can I convince my wife it won't be a mess or too smelly, etc? I just want negs as I can scan for prints. Help please. :rolleyes:
 
If you just want negs (assuming B&W) then you don't need a darkroom - just a changing bag and a daylight tank.
 
Well, you don't need any trays (except maybe for use as a water-bath to place the developing-tank in, if the room temperature is extreme) and the chemicals stay inside the developing tank instead of being open in the air - so you won't have any smelly stuff filling the bathroom. Also, don't forget that these days you can even use smell-free chemcals too. I suggest going to the Ilford website and browsing through their help documents to find the reduced water-useage archival-washing instructions, as that will save a lot of water and therebye reduce costs and waste.

The film has to get from the cassette, or roll, in to the tank without any light affecting it of course, so use a changing-bag. These are light-proof rectangular bags with a light-proof opening (to put all the bits and pieces inside the bag) and two light-proof armholes (to enable you to get your hands inside to load the tank). Once the film is in the tank, the chemical stages of the procedure are done in daylight, so you don't even need to be able to blackout a room.

If you are processing sheet film, then you can still use developing-tanks but they will be a different design than the ones used for the smaller 35mm or 120. It is not necessary to have deep-tanks, containing gallons of chemicals, sitting permanently in your bathroom.

The impact on the domestic environment is minimal, and the environmental impact with modern chemicals is also small. The normal chemicals are generally no more unpleasant than the bleaches and cleaning-products usually used around the home. If you produce umpteen gallons a day of photographic waste then the picture changes, but a pint a week falls well within regulations everywhere I have ever heard of.


EDIT: In the time I took to make a cup of tea and write the text, about half a dozen people have already posted !
 
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Just do it. Your wife will catch you and you: "well darling, it's two years that I use this bathroom as a darkroom...and you did not notice it...till now, please...switch off the light...."
 
andrealed said:
Just do it. Your wife will catch you and you: "well darling, it's two years that I use this bathroom as a darkroom...and you did not notice it...till now, please...switch off the light...."
Click to expand...

lock the door
 
She might be more concerned with you having to use the kitchen stove to cook the developer. :D Just kidding! If my memory is right, been awhile, you will need to bring the water temp. up to 125 degrees to mix D-76 if you use the powderd version. You can get liquid developers btw and all you need is a few items. Get a large changing bag because you will be loading the film on the reel and cutting and placing the reel in the tank after loading the reel. Then after you have loaded the film into the tank all the rest can be done in daylight. It's fun and I advise you to do it, and even get a bulk loader and buy some bulk film to save money. You will need the changing bag to load bulk film into the loader also.
 
I will use the downstair's bathroom when I make prints...When I'm done I clean up, put things away and then put things back where they belong...
If you didn't know you couldn't tell...once the chemicals are discarded the smell is gone...My photo closet is right next the this bathroom and you would never guess there are chemicals in there...

I just developed a roll of film last night in this bathroom and you can't tell today...
 
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Akiva, even though what I wanted to say has been already said, let me say this briefly:

1) You can spool film into a tank anywhere in the house, as long as you do it inside a changing bag. Don't get a large one, but a small one. I think the size (on the large side) is 15 inches. I have a huge one and it just gets in the way.

2) The chemicals used for this don't smell a lot. At times, they'll spill on your hands, but they're nothing a good soap cannot remove.

3) A bathroom is an ideal place to hang negatives to dry... provided it has a shower. Otherwise, you must look for a dustfree, dry spot in the house. I hang mine to dry in the basement bathroom (and develop the stuff in the basement kitchen sink), after running the shower with hot water so the steam covers any dust.

4) Get your wife a nice present for no reason whatsoever, and the day afterwards "move in" to use the bathroom. She won't mind.

Good luck... and you'll enjoy processing!

Now, we'll do the chemicals suggestions on a separate thread. :)
 
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