Home darkroom set up.

[Fender5388]

I'm working on setting up my own darkroom, until then i have been scanning my negatives. This is the first time I've been developing st home (just graduated college, no longer have access to their equipment.)
What is the best way to let your negatives dry so they won't get dusty.
And what is the best way to clean the dust off the negatives before scanning and or enlarging??

Thanks!!

 

[Josh66]

Bulb blower to get the dust off. Dry in a dust free environment to prevent it from happening.

I dry mine in the bathroom. If the A/C (or heat) is on, I close the vent in the bathroom before hanging the film up. I get very minimal dust doing it that way.

 

[dxqcanada]

Hmm, I never really had a problem with dust during drying ... though I do recall being suggested to use a plastic hanging garment bag as an enclosure.

A goat. Kinetronics Corporation - StaticVac (SV)

 

[Josh66]

A goat. Kinetronics Corporation - StaticVac (SV)

Wow, $600 for a dust remover...? I'll keep using my bulb blower...lol.

 

[dxqcanada]

Yeah, I would not pay that much for it ... look for photo labs that are closing shop ... that's how I got mine.

 

[brucejames]

I too prefer drying the negatives in bathroom. They are safe and dust free there.

 

[JerrfyLube]

I also dry mine in the bathroom. I steam the bathroom up a bit then hang the negatives (with weights on the bottom to keep them flat) from a bar in the shower. After they're hung, I run a small space heater in the bathroom for an hour or two and it works fantastic. They dry quickly and I've yet to have any dust appear on my negatives.

Keep an eye on them while they're drying and look to see that the negative has a slight inward curl towards the emulsion (non shiny) side. This means that they are completely dry, ready to be cut into strips and put into negative preservers.