The Black and White darkroom

Note: This page, and many others here, are still under construction. If you're desparate to get darkroom ideas and still haven't found what you're looking for, try some of these: The Black and White darkroom consists of a light tight container big enough to hold the person processing the materials, as well as the equipment and the materials. Some chemicals are nice, as is a supply of water. A drainage system is of course further helpful, lest the water pile up and make a mess.

The room itself

The room should be, obviously, lightproof. The door is an obvious place to start, as most doors are lightproof. However, most doors also open, which means that the doorway IS a hole in the wall where light can come in. Lightproofing the bottom of the doorway is probably the most difficult part of the door. In my last two, I've been using 3 mil black plastic sheet. It comes on a roll at the local home-improvement store. Cut to size, it's light-resistant in 1 layer, and light-proof in 2 layers. I find it very useful to put a piece of wood across the bottom of the doorway, all the way across. Then, to stop indirect light leaks, a curled up piece of sheet stapled in place to fill the gap, then another piece stapled AROUND that to provide multiple layers for lightproofing. All four edges of the door receive this treatment. I generally put a few layers across the hinge part of the door as well.

Any windows also should be blocked up. If the room is not always going to be a darkroom, you may wish to take a piece of wood cut to fit the window (most windows are recessed into the wall, cut a little bit smaller than this), and then plug the edge holes with rolled plastic sheet. 2 hooks and eyes at the top and one at the bottom should hold it in place.

Working area

A countertop or table is a good thing to have. The top should be water resistant at the very least; preferably chemical resistant as well. Old school darkroom design says that you should have a large flat sink to hold developing trays and whatnot, so that when they spill (as they invariably do) it's easier to clean up; My darkroom has 8 feet of countertop, 6 of which alternates between "wet" and "dry" processing space. I find my 6 by 8 foot darkroom more than adequate space for one person; two CAN work inside but it's a little cozy. I usually work in my darkroom alone.o

The enlarger sits on the counter at the far end of the darkroom, with enough working space (about 8 inches) between it and the side wall. The rest of the area is easily converted between film and paper development.

Miscellaneous equipment

A darkroom seems to collect all sorts of "stuff". A good starting point is to look at a commercial lab and see what they use. You'll definitely need some graduates and pitchers for mixing and measuring chemicals. I personally use a 50 mL graduate and a 300 mL graduate for measuring, some 1L pitchers for mixing and working in, and a large collection of "air evac" bottles. While you don't NEED an air evac bottle for anything other than developer, I find it handy to hold fixer in (stop gets mixed for use and then tossed; I do likewise with most of my developers).

Further, you'll need stirring paddles to adequately mix (plastic tongs do in a pinch), a collection of squeegees (an interesting "pinch" squeegee that gets both sides at once for films, and a big squeegee for prints). I also have a dish drying rack and basin for washing off labware.