Developing black and white film at home

Jim,

Your sarcasm detector was weak. 😏

Your Rodinal level may be low.

Rich

Yeah, it was obvious that you were joking, but I Googled "gang darkroom" and didn't come up with anything appropriate, and realized that I hadn't used that term in years, and it might not make sense to some.

I'll have to have another swig of that tasty Rodinol.

I was going to continue the silliness and say that I have a nice '88 Vintage.

But I've finally rid my life of every last vestige of my darkroom days.

To my wife's great relief, gone is every gallon container of fixer. Every bottle of Rodinal, HC110, unidentified containers, funnels, Nikor reels, plastic reels. Plastic, bakelite and enameled trays of all sizes up to 20x24. Paterson tanks. Stainless tanks. Dry chemicals of all manner, measuring cups, syringes, buckets. Aprons brown with developer stain and holes from fixer. All in one swell foop of "clean it out, give it away or throw it away" energy.

Finally.

I never tasted any photographic chemicals. But how come I can still smell each and every one just by thinking of it? I can remember the smell and "feel" of every darkroom I ever worked in. Heady stuff.

Rich

Including the bad ones? Selenium toner. Cibachrome blix? Ugh.

A litho darkroom adds a whole additional "palette" of tastes/smells. Loved that stuff! Mmmmmmm-good!

Rich

I used to love the smell of 35mm color film right after you popped the top of the (first metal, then plastic) container it came in. I'd take a whiff before I loaded the camera.

LOL!

Yes!!

Actually just about any film stock. LOVED the smell(s) of the backing and the emulsions.

You may be too young to remember this but I loved the smell when the teacher passed out the freshly made mimeographs, too.

doyouremember.com/121947/remember-enjoying-mimeographs

Your developer may be toxic, but if you're developing using caffenol you'll be using standard household chemicals that are typically found in kitchens.
Coffee, vitamin C & water are all food grade (safe to drink/eat), washing soda is the only potentially nasty compound & it's usually kept in the kitchen.

I sold all of my film camera's (Nikon, Hasselblad, Rolleiflex, Sinar) except for an ancient Cambo view camera. Chemicals went out 15 years ago. But I still do have a large box full of all kinds of unused glass plates that I inherited from my uncle, but never used myself. Also a few containers for developer and fixer and the metal trays that go in them, holding the sheet films. Furthermore, a Durst Laborator 138S enlarger that seems impossible to sell, as most people shooting sheet film now use a scanner.

Last time I made any up, I did it in my lab & used the fume hood.
But only because that's where the decent balance is & I wanted to make use of my lunchtime.

If you develop Cibachrome prints on the other hand... It all depends of course. Personally I get all kinds of blisters from 'normal' B&W developers as I'm very allergic to them. So I always used a separate sink in the darkroom and rubber gloves. YMMV.

Too young? See the number after my name? 😎

Yes mimeographs, turning the machine's crank, typing the masters, mimeograph ink (ugh!) and the fluid to repair a mistake on the film masters.

Stop it! My olfactory memories are on overload!

Yup, all my film cameras are gone. My Sinar sold but, like your experience, I still have an ancient Cambo that no-one wants. I kept a diminutive Nikon EM that is in absolute mint condition. It's unbelievable, but looks like "new in box." Got it for $19 on eBay. I keep it just for the sentiment.

The only Durst enlarger I had was a little 35mm model. Wonderful piece of equipment.

Rich

Not all of us. Do tell, Jim!

Aaron

Like white vinegar.

Mine does also, well it's diluted vinegar actually 🤣

Jim, I have the greatest respect for you and love reading your blogs but you've lost me here. I can't take anything you say about darkroom safety seriously now😆

It's clear that I'm not going to convince anyone to be more safe and I'm not your mum so I can't ground anyone😉...but I will make one last statement for the fence sitters and then I'm done. Common sense is not that common. Using substances in the correct manner means following the recommendations on the safety data sheet. Lets take a scenario based on your "common sense" best practice: you have a jug that you mix up darkroom chemicals and you label it as developer only (or whatever) but it's in the kitchen because that's where you do your darkroom processing. You partner/child/house mate comes in and they have a reasonable expectation that anything in the kitchen is food safe so they don't read the label and make up their orange juice in the jug you use for making up darkroom chemicals.
As a researcher I personally know a colleague who used "common sense" (rather than recommended safety protocols) when using and storing lab chemicals (in this case toluene) and now has a permanent neurological disorder.
So, develop your film at home. It's lots of fun. Please don't do it in the kitchen.

PS that'll be the end of my contribution to this discussion and even though I strongly disagree on this point with most of the posters here, I still hold you in the highest regard.😊

I'd like to argue with you about this but my seizure disorder, loss of vision in my right eye and spasticity of both hands makes it too difficult for me. Never had any of those problems before using darkroom chemicals, though . . .

Seriously -

I have been around such chemistry for 6 decades. I have many associates, friends, family members who share an interest in photography who have had long experience with such chemicals. All of us have had kitchen darkrooms, bathroom darkrooms, basement darkrooms for some periods of time in our homes. Many for years.

Developers are mostly stored in dark, unmistakable bottles. Unmixed chemicals are labeled or in containers unlike anything that food comes in. I've never known a household with a photographer where family members weren't aware of "dad's photography stuff."

I've never heard of an incident involving an accidental ingestion of such chemicals. These are not the danger you are warning about. It's safe to pour developer, fixer and other substances typically used in photography down the kitchen drain.

Please don't equate home darkrooms with truly toxic chemical environments. Your "voice of reason," type of advice is not based on experience of the actual situations or any real danger. You are creating a totally unnecessary mountain where there isn't even a mole hill.

I'm sorry, but the Internet is a huge bull horn and this is how information gets distorted and magnified out of all reason.

Rich