Darkroom move

After building a great new darkroom a couple of years ago, I'm moving to a
condo. The only choice I have is to share the laundry room. It's plenty
big enough but the proximity of the dryer scares me. At least it seems void
of spiders. (my darkroom is plagued with them) What I did here was a
positive pressure using filtered air which worked well so I'll do that
again. The condo has electrostatic filtering that seems to work well. The
biggest thing that scares me is cleaning the pull-out lint filter on the
dryer. Maybe a sprits with a spray bottle will keep the dust down. I'm
doomed.

"Buerste" wrote in message
...
After building a great new darkroom a couple of years ago,
I'm moving to a condo. The only choice I have is to share
the laundry room. It's plenty big enough but the
proximity of the dryer scares me. At least it seems void
of spiders. (my darkroom is plagued with them) What I did
here was a positive pressure using filtered air which
worked well so I'll do that again. The condo has
electrostatic filtering that seems to work well. The
biggest thing that scares me is cleaning the pull-out lint
filter on the dryer. Maybe a sprits with a spray bottle
will keep the dust down. I'm doomed.
How is the dryer vented, that could make a lot of
difference.


--
--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA

"Richard Knoppow" wrote in message
m...

"Buerste" wrote in message
...
After building a great new darkroom a couple of years ago, I'm moving to
a condo. The only choice I have is to share the laundry room. It's
plenty big enough but the proximity of the dryer scares me. At least it
seems void of spiders. (my darkroom is plagued with them) What I did
here was a positive pressure using filtered air which worked well so I'll
do that again. The condo has electrostatic filtering that seems to work
well. The biggest thing that scares me is cleaning the pull-out lint
filter on the dryer. Maybe a sprits with a spray bottle will keep the
dust down. I'm doomed.
How is the dryer vented, that could make a lot of difference.


--
--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA



Good point, Richard!
The pull-out lint filter doesn't bother me very much at all, but there is a
world of lint that comes out the vent pipe.
Years ago, I heard a story from 'the Maytag Repairman' about the dryer that
wasn't working well. The customer didn't want to vent the dryer outside the
house, so they ran the vent pipe into a basement storage area, and put a
pair of pantyhose on the end of the pipe. After a period of years, the dryer
lost it's drying ability. The repairman traced the vent pipe, and found a
pair of 'plumped' panty hose filled with years' of lint.

If you're concerned about the pull-out filter, how about this: put a plastic
bag over your arm and grab the filter through the plastic. As you pull out
the filter, slide the bag down over it. Then go to another room to clean it.
Your spritz with the spray bottle is also along the right path-- increasing
the humidity will tend to settle dust.

Alternativly, you could bring the spiders from your old darkroom and train
them to dust-spot the prints!

"Ken Hart1" wrote in message
...

"Richard Knoppow" wrote in message
m...

"Buerste" wrote in message
...
After building a great new darkroom a couple of years ago, I'm moving to
a condo. The only choice I have is to share the laundry room. It's
plenty big enough but the proximity of the dryer scares me. At least it
seems void of spiders. (my darkroom is plagued with them) What I did
here was a positive pressure using filtered air which worked well so
I'll do that again. The condo has electrostatic filtering that seems to
work well. The biggest thing that scares me is cleaning the pull-out
lint filter on the dryer. Maybe a sprits with a spray bottle will keep
the dust down. I'm doomed.
How is the dryer vented, that could make a lot of difference.


--
--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA



Good point, Richard!
The pull-out lint filter doesn't bother me very much at all, but there is
a world of lint that comes out the vent pipe.
Years ago, I heard a story from 'the Maytag Repairman' about the dryer
that wasn't working well. The customer didn't want to vent the dryer
outside the house, so they ran the vent pipe into a basement storage area,
and put a pair of pantyhose on the end of the pipe. After a period of
years, the dryer lost it's drying ability. The repairman traced the vent
pipe, and found a pair of 'plumped' panty hose filled with years' of lint.

If you're concerned about the pull-out filter, how about this: put a
plastic bag over your arm and grab the filter through the plastic. As you
pull out the filter, slide the bag down over it. Then go to another room
to clean it. Your spritz with the spray bottle is also along the right
path-- increasing the humidity will tend to settle dust.

Alternativly, you could bring the spiders from your old darkroom and train
them to dust-spot the prints!


A simple, elegant idea that will work, thanks! (The plastic bag...NOT the
spiders, I don't want to see spider web ever again in my darkroom. And, GOD
I hate spotting and I suck at it.)

"Richard Knoppow" wrote in message
m...

"Buerste" wrote in message
...
After building a great new darkroom a couple of years ago, I'm moving to
a condo. The only choice I have is to share the laundry room. It's
plenty big enough but the proximity of the dryer scares me. At least it
seems void of spiders. (my darkroom is plagued with them) What I did
here was a positive pressure using filtered air which worked well so I'll
do that again. The condo has electrostatic filtering that seems to work
well. The biggest thing that scares me is cleaning the pull-out lint
filter on the dryer. Maybe a sprits with a spray bottle will keep the
dust down. I'm doomed.
How is the dryer vented, that could make a lot of difference.


--
--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA



It vents outside through a roof vent. The plumbing looks very good and well
sealed. It will be a piece of cake to pressurize the room with filtered
air. One of the best outlets for the pressure will be the dryer, a big
plus!

"Buerste" wrote in message
...

"Richard Knoppow" wrote in
message
m...

"Buerste" wrote in message
...
After building a great new darkroom a couple of years
ago, I'm moving to a condo. The only choice I have is
to share the laundry room. It's plenty big enough but
the proximity of the dryer scares me. At least it seems
void of spiders. (my darkroom is plagued with them)
What I did here was a positive pressure using filtered
air which worked well so I'll do that again. The condo
has electrostatic filtering that seems to work well.
The biggest thing that scares me is cleaning the
pull-out lint filter on the dryer. Maybe a sprits with
a spray bottle will keep the dust down. I'm doomed.
How is the dryer vented, that could make a lot of
difference.


--
--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA



It vents outside through a roof vent. The plumbing looks
very good and well sealed. It will be a piece of cake to
pressurize the room with filtered air. One of the best
outlets for the pressure will be the dryer, a big plus!
That sounds good. I would not worry much about the pull
out filter but make sure its cleaned somewhere else or wash
it. The main source of dust would be the exhaust and that
seems to have been taken care of.


--
--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA

The lint from the drier filter depends on the design of the drier.

On mine the filter pulls out from a slot on the top deck of the drier
and it deposits a fine sprinkling of lint over the top of the drier
every time it is pulled out.

Over the years there has been quite an accumulation of lint in odd
corners of the laundry room. The accumulation thickness is inverse
to the distance from the drier.

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Darkroom Automation: F-Stop Timers, Enlarging Meters
http://www.darkroomautomation.com/da-main.htm
n o lindan at ix dot netcom dot com

On 11/7/2008 11:25 AM Nicholas O. Lindan spake thus:

The lint from the drier filter depends on the design of the drier.

On mine the filter pulls out from a slot on the top deck of the drier
and it deposits a fine sprinkling of lint over the top of the drier
every time it is pulled out.

Over the years there has been quite an accumulation of lint in odd
corners of the laundry room. The accumulation thickness is inverse
to the distance from the drier.

Same with mine (by the way, it's dryer, not drier). I think the chances
the O.P. has for a lint-free darkroom are vanishingly small here.


--
Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the
powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.

- Paulo Freire

"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
s.com...
On 11/7/2008 11:25 AM Nicholas O. Lindan spake thus:

The lint from the drier filter depends on the design of the drier.

On mine the filter pulls out from a slot on the top deck of the drier
and it deposits a fine sprinkling of lint over the top of the drier
every time it is pulled out.

Over the years there has been quite an accumulation of lint in odd
corners of the laundry room. The accumulation thickness is inverse
to the distance from the drier.

Same with mine (by the way, it's dryer, not drier). I think the chances
the O.P. has for a lint-free darkroom are vanishingly small here.


--
Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the
powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.

- Paulo Freire

I'm not thrilled with the new constraints, it'll mean a lot of diligence the
keep dust under control in film processing and enlarger maintenance. But,
thanks to all for good ideas!

"Buerste" wrote in message
...

"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
s.com...
On 11/7/2008 11:25 AM Nicholas O. Lindan spake thus:

The lint from the drier filter depends on the design of the drier.

On mine the filter pulls out from a slot on the top deck of the drier
and it deposits a fine sprinkling of lint over the top of the drier
every time it is pulled out.

Over the years there has been quite an accumulation of lint in odd
corners of the laundry room. The accumulation thickness is inverse
to the distance from the drier.

Same with mine (by the way, it's dryer, not drier). I think the chances
the O.P. has for a lint-free darkroom are vanishingly small here.

Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the
powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.

I'm not thrilled with the new constraints, it'll mean a lot of diligence
the keep dust under control in film processing and enlarger maintenance.
But, thanks to all for good ideas!
I'll add my two cents. Get one of those simple hand held sprayers and spray
the air in the room with plain water perhaps about a 1/2 hour before you
start working. When all that misty water has settled, wipe down the counter
tops, floor, etc with a damp towel. Of course, keep the enlarger covered -
even a large plastic 32 gallon trash bag will do.

A good air filter in the room can also help.