The Worst Darkroom In The WORLD!

[shortyssk8s22]

hi, :]

though i am somewhat new to this website (meaning, i listerally just signed up) im in dire need of some help:

i have been responsable (by choice, mind you..) for cleaning my highschool's darkroom for the past two years. and, in case you haven't seen a highschool darkroom, its the grossest place i will ever set foot in.

and yet.. i feel its my responsability to clean it because if i dont, it wont get done, and also, i love film photography... and my schools art program gets little to no funding as it is, so im doing my part to make the photo department more enjoyable for me and everyone else who accually cares about and loves photography

so here is my request:

what is THE ABSOLUTE BEST cleaner for REMOVING DEVELOPING CHEMICALS from a countertop?!?! honestly, the build up of literally 20 years of chemicals on the same countertop, almoast a few centimeters thick, it a serious health hazard, and is absolutly discusting...

im cleaning like i never have before next week before summer break, and i want every layer of this carbondatable crust off the countertop

if you are still reading this, and think you know of a merical cleaning liquid that could help me, i would GREATLY appreciate it.

thank you sooooo much!


-nick

 

[deanimator]

You bring it to the attention of the Parent´s Committee
They freak out. :shock:
They ask the school principal to organize a new bench top.

 

[fightheheathens]

i would guess that water is going to be the best thing to clean with. the chemicals are all soluble in water...i mean thats what you mix them all up with so in theory just plain old water should dissolve them. hot water would work better. If that doesnt work, try soap. and then if that doesnt work we start to get into the serious stuff. Go with soap and water first. its cheapest and least harmful.

that being said, i would next try rubbing alcohol, followed by a heavy degreaser (go to a bike shop and get one of the biodegradable degreasers) they work well and arent toxic. If that doesnt work, i would try Acetone, you can get it around (hobby shops i think) however, you would have to wear some sort of respirator to use this stuff and be careful. Acetone dissolves most everything including plastic.


My best guess would be the hot water though. Im a chemist and looking at the chemicals in darkroom stuff, they all dissolve in water. you may have to use a lot of water and a lot of scrubbing but that would be your best bet. Adding a little dish soap wouldnt hurt.
i wouldnt try any of the chemicals unless you absolutely cannot get that stuff out, and even then i might just say leave it

 

[JIP]

Personally I would just stick to water or a mild soap. You want to stay away from anything heavy-duty just remember

old darkroom chemicals + heavy soap + confined space = possible bad reactions

 

[ann]

the photoformulary sells a cleaner made for trays, etc. it works very well and isn't that expensive. It should help out your situtation.

 

[deanimator]

NEW TOP !!!

or, cover it with a thick polyethylene plastic.

Has anyone mentioned how toxic these concentrated chemicals are?
I would never try to scrape away or dissolve concentrated, crystallized cyanide...with anything!
You mentioned it is really crusted and quite thick! Don´t play with it. I shudder to think what the fumes will carry into your lungs, especially with solvents like acetone! :roll:

 

[Mike_E]

A Steam cleaner. The kind that uses real steam.

mike

 

[deanimator]

...and a chemical suit and gas mask, please!

 

[JIP]

NEW TOP !!!

or, cover it with a thick polyethylene plastic.

Has anyone mentioned how toxic these concentrated chemicals are?
I would never try to scrape away or dissolve concentrated, crystallized cyanide...with anything!
You mentioned it is really crusted and quite thick! Don´t play with it. I shudder to think what the fumes will carry into your lungs, especially with solvents like acetone! :roll:

That is what I was trying to sat in my post. I don't think you should try and use any harsh cleaner like ammonia or bleach or some kind of degreaser as the combination could take something that is already somewhat toxic and cause an extreme reaction. This would be especially bad in the confined spaces of a darkroom.

 

[Mike_E]

I hate to bring you down, Shorty, but this IS NOT your responsibility!! If the school Board in your town even thought you were about to do this and had any clue what was involved, they would never let you anywhere near the place again. Really, ReallyReally!

You are talking about an inch or so of dried, Poisonous chemicals. This really is a job for a professional who will have all the equipment already.

Upon further review (rereading about how much was involved) I wouldn't use steam either. I would most likely replace the counter with stainless steel.

mike

 

[The_Traveler]

No acetone

Steps If Matl Released/Spill: ELIMINATE ALL IGNITION SOURCES. VENTILATE AREA. AVOID BREATHING VAPORS. USE SCBA OR SUPPLIED-AIR MASK FOR LARGE SPILLS OR IN CONFINED AREAS. CONTAIN SPILL. REMOVE WITH INERT ABSORBANT.
Neutralizing Agent: NONE

http://njiai.org/Acetone-msd.PDF

 

[NoFilter]

It is best to leave chemical clean up to people who are experts in doing it.

You only have one set of lungs, let's try not to destroy them.

 

[fightheheathens]

upon rereading and realizing how much crud there is, i would not use anything other then water and soap.
I work as a chemist and i sometimes forget that not everyone has access to the type of breathing equiptment we use when we work with that stuff. Acetone in small amounts is fine (it is the main thing in nail polish remover) but large ammounts is no good.

if there really is a few cm of crud on this thing, the best thing would be to replace it. dont even bother trying to clean it. a light coating wouldnt be that hard to get off, but 20 years of buildup is not going to come off with out a lot of work. go to a pta meeting with a list of developer chemicals and read them off. that should scare the parents enough to do something.

 

[Garbz]

A paint scraper

 

[shortyssk8s22]

i tryed cleaning it last year (freshman year) with soap+water, it worked a little bit, but literally, it would take 2-4 hours to get MOST of it off :[

we have a paint scraper, but im going to bring in goggles, ventilation mask (one of the ones for mowing lawns...) and an even heavier duty scraper.

i dont know how harmful the dried chemicals are, but i had to cough a lot the last time i was cleaning, it felt like i had something tickling my throat.. :/

and as for the PTA meetings, or going to the board. i dont want to scare them so much as to discontinue the photography program, its the highlight of my week.. :/

im going to bring my camera next time and take pictures of the build up before i clean it.

ill post em' next week