setting up my darkroom and......

[wilfbiffherb]

hi all,

finally got permission to setup a mini darkroom in one of my spare rooms. i have been lightproofing my room in preparation - i got some thick heavy duty rubble sacks from homebase and have taped them in double layers over my window (bit concerned they may melt in extreme sunshine and set the house on fire) and they are blocking the light perfectly. there is only my door left - im planning on stuffing a towel under the door. light is getting in around the outsides of the door but it doesnt fall onto the paper directly. do you reckon i should still block it up with card/tape or do you think i can get away with it?

[spatz]

your description mirrors my darkroom exactly. and dont worry about the light from the sides of the door - the towel is enough. ive never had any troubles with paper. with film i usually wait until night. goodluck!

[Molli]

hi wilfbiffherb



My laundry is set up in much the same way as your spare room is described. I, too, have a problem with cracks around the back door letting in light. More often than not, I only use it at night, but I have used it during the day and simply ensured that I'm not putting the paper anywhere in those beams of light. No real adverse affect, thus far, but I'm not printing fine art here so it would be hard to tell the difference
I do put a towel along the bottom of the floor, though, since that's a fairly major gap and I use my hallway floor as a 'table' for my paper, notebook and negatives. Hope that makes sense.

[paul_c5x4]

I have a curtain (in black) with a thick light-proof lining hung over the door and window. Some strips of velcro have been added around the frames which help to cut out any light leaks. - If you choose to follow my example, any decent fabric store should be able to supply the light-proof lining. Just don't sew it in place as the needle will give you a row of holes that let light through - Use an impact adhesive instead.

[wilfbiffherb]

i may try it out without sealing the door then. theres a fair bit of light that comes in but it seems to hit the opposite end of the room. maybe ill make a cardboard door frame type thing to slot over it.

[David Brown]

Weather stripping will solve the door problem.

[Grumpyshutter]

Hi wilfbiffherb,

Sounds a bit like my old darkroom in the spare bedroom. I had a problem with light leaking around the edges of the door. Despite the door being at the other end of the room to the enlarger, the walls being painted matt and no light falling directly onto or near the enlarger, I would still have problems with slight fogging. I tacked up a heavy blanket over the door and this solved the problem. If I still used the darkroom (I'm building a new one in agarden shed...) I think I would replace the blanket with a curtainpole over the door and a heavy curtain, just like granny used to have to keep out draughts before the days of double glazing and central heating. Hope this helps,

Grumpyshutter.

[Christopher Walrath]

Hey wbh. I did darkroom in the downstairs half bath for a couple years and the light around the door never affected my work. I say go for it.

Keep it light.
ChrisW

[wilfbiffherb]

im thinking now if i do it i may as well try and block the light. maybe some draught excluder around the door would do it. or maybe just cut come card to slot over the gaps between the door and the frame. we'll see!

[bdial]

Weatherstripping around the top three sides of the door, and a rubber draft sweep on the bottom.
Works good, easy to do, not expensive. It's also easily reversable if that's an issue.