[pure-silver] Re: Darkroom smells

Dear Robert,

I must agree with you about some of the darkroom smells - I gave up B/W printing for a couple of years because of what I thought was a health problem with acetic acid stop bath. When I discovered the citric acid one I started the line back up and that seemed to clear the air, so to speak.

I think I was fooling myself, though, that it was just the chemical change of the stop bath - I think it was as much about providing a decent airflow over the processing dishes and restricting the available evaporative surface. I put in a big baffled ceiling vent and started processing in Nova tanks rather than open dishes at the same time. I further improved my comfort level by not rubbing my eyes with processing chemicals on the ends of my fingers or dipping my sleeve in the fixer....

But it struck me that there are other ways of tackling the darkroom smell factor in the house. If you can only reduce the chemical load so far and you still get complaints from the family then you have to take a lateral approach. I find it is possible to convince the other members of the household that the darkroom is actually the clearest atmosphere in the structure.... by going out of my way to treat the rest of the structure. Asafoetida in a dish over a small spirit lamp is a good way, as is a 4-kilo ball of used sweat socks from the local gym. Lentil and curry casserole with a side of cabbage may be going it a little too much, particularly in warm weather. Anyone who has a wet laborador dog handy need do little else.

I hope this has been helpful. Please feel free to call at my house any time and make your own judgement.

   Uncle Dick




=============================================================================================================
To unsubscribe from this list, go to www.freelists.org and logon to your 
account (the same e-mail address and password you set-up when you subscribed,) 
and unsubscribe from there.

Other related posts: