Evening star., 1950-10-01
By Alexander J. Wedderburn
Curator Of Photography
The Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution
deck paint will be a good substi-
tute and will make 1t easy for you
to swab out the room at periodic
intervals.
Stains Traced to Dust.
The importance of getting rid of
that chemical dust cannot be
stressed too greatly. 1t will do all
the harm that the ordinary variety
will accomplish but is far more
troublesome in other ways. In
the past you may have wondered
why some of your films came out
of the developer with tiny specks
and spots. Chances are that this
was the result of chemical dust
that was floating around in the
air of the lab. Stains and spots
on prints can also be explained in
many instances on the same
grounds
Now, with everything out of the
way, is as good a time as any to
check your darkroom to see that
it Is still light-tight. Turn on
plenty of light in the adjoining
room, then lock yourself in the
lab with all on the inside shut of.
Then wait for about five minutes
for your eyes to become adjusted
to the darkness and if there are
any cracks or crevices where
light leaks in. you will be able to
spot them and take corrective ac-
ton. If your darkroom Is equip
ped with a light trap entry you will
have little or no trouble at that
point. If. as is more common
practice among amateurs, you
have an ordinary door, you should
carefully inspect around its edges
for light leaks. These, if any. can
be fixed quickly enough with strips
of black felt or weather stripping
tackled to the places where door
meets sill and frame.
Dust Carried in Boxes.
BY this time you should be ready
to get things in order once more.
But don't bring in a lot of dusty
bottles and boxes and undo all the
work you have just completed.
Dust each item carefully and use
a damp cloth where necessary to
get rid of spots of dirt or chemi-
Gals. Your enlarger is without
question the worst dirt trap in the
place so we suggest that you take
it apart and clean it from stem to
stern, inside and out. Even take
the condenser apart and carefully
wipe the component parts with
soft cloth or lens tissue. The con-
tact printer should receive the
same treatment. You will be
unpleasantly surprised at the
amount of dirt that you will find
hidden inside these two items
alone.
Trays and other containers
should be scrubbed clean. giving
particular attention to the under
sides which you very likely haven't
seen in years. The metal trays
will probably have a layer Of rust
on their bottom surfaces that will
cause you trouble If it is allowed
to remain.
You might also examine the
shoppers of all the bottles to make
sure that they have not rotted
and become useless, This is a
common occurrence where chemi-
Gals come in contact with such
materials. A new set of shoppers
will keep you out of all kinds OF
trouble.
Now is the time to get rid Of all
odds and ends that have been ac-I
cumulating in the past year. If
you have bottles that have an inch
or so of some little used solution,
get rid of the contents now and
mix fresh formulae so that you
won't have to wonder what will
happen to your films and prints.
If you have reason to suspect that
any of the chemicals have become
weak through age and dampness,
replace those. too.
Don't let your darkroom become