Developing film at home?

pilotgirl2007 · Mar 10, 2008

Right now I have limited access to a darkroom and I was thinking about setting up so I could dev my own B&W film here in my apartment. I was just wondering about a few things... If anyone who does this could give me some insight into how you do things that would be great

1) How do you guys go about disposing of your used dev?
2) Where do you dry your film?

I guess those are the two main questions. I am sure I will come up with more. Any hints or help would be great! Thanks!

nealjpage · Mar 10, 2008

First, welcome to The Photo Forum, Pilot!

Second, I pour my developer right down the sink. The conventional wisdom is that the limited amount of developer used for hobbyists is pretty minimal. Not sure if it's bad for septic systems, but I live in town so I've never worried about it.

Third, I hang my film from a piece of picture hanging wire i've got strung up in the bathroom. The bathroom seems pretty dust-free, what with the steamy water and all. I hang it up over night, clipping it with small binder clips I swiped from the office. It gets taken down in the morning before I hop in the shower.

Hope that helps.

pilotgirl2007 · Mar 11, 2008

Thanks that was helpful. I am going to go and try my first roll at home right now : )

terri · Mar 12, 2008

Welcome to TPF. You've gotten some good advice, we'd love to hear how it goes for you.

Currently I hang my negatives in the closet in my darkroom (a converted bedroom). Any undisturbed area with little to no air flow will work - and be sure to use LFN or PhotoFlo to help minimize water spots (in distilled water). I avoided Neal's petty theft by using actual film clips to weight the strips, though. :lol:

And I have no more concerns about dumping my photo chemistry down the drain than I do with household cleaners.

pilotgirl2007 · Mar 14, 2008

Thanks for all the help! I successfully developed 3 rolls the other night! They turned out great... I almost want to say they are better than in the lab : ) but maybe it just feels that way. Anyhow I hung them in my bathroom and what I hung them with was a hanger that had clips on it for hanging your pants (the plastic ones so they are easy on the film) and then I used a magenetic refrigerator clip to weight them down : )

I am really excited now that i can save my darkroom time for making prints since its open limited hours and I can't make it there during most : (

And I am not too worried about dumping the chems down the drain now...

Anyhow thanks so much for the help, I can't wait to print some of the photos now!!