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Photo Forum / Film Photography / Darkroom / May 2006cleaning your studio air of dust
i guess this is a good place to start.....especially if you're all still doing darkroom photography :):):) i'm an artist and i want to rid my studio of dust. my studio is about 12x17x10. i've been reading about these airpurifiers, and the knock on the ionic breeze, but if you're like me, you can't have air being BLOWN about as many hepa purifiers do. the air has to be circulated "quietly" so to speak, so as not to stir up any dust. allergens, i couldn't care less about.....it's dust that want to get rid of, though i suppose they all come out the same in the wash. i remember long ago, oh like 20 years ago that a photographer friend of mine had, in fact, an ionizer that zapped dust. i don't know if that ionized ionized,,,as does the sharper image unit,,,nor do i know about the latest technologies. what is the best thing to use that meets my requirements? thanks all:) <<what is the best thing to use that meets my requirements? thanks all:>> You need to pressurize your studio slightly. So get a fan and filter and install it so it will blow into your studio. No windstorm thing but enough to open the door slightly when it is unlatched. Bob AZ yes, this was brought up yo me before. so you think dust coming in from opening the door is the major culprit? just a simple fan? and a filter for,,,,, what? doesn't any kind of air circulation stir up dust? > You need to pressurize your studio slightly. So get a fan and filter > and install it so it will blow into your studio. No windstorm thing but > enough to open the door slightly when it is unlatched. > Bob AZ yes, this was brought up yo me before. so you think dust coming in from opening the door is the major culprit? just a simple fan? and a filter for,,,,, what? doesn't any kind of air circulation stir up dust? An open door will allow dust to get in. Also any other openings will allow the same thing. So with the pressure in the studio slightly elevated, the dust will find another place to go. Once you get the pressure up and clean up the dust that is already there you should be in good shape. Also if there are any other significant iopenings you will have to close these also. There will always be some openings that you will not be aware of or able to do anything about. These openings will be where the air leaks and carries out any dust that does get in. And also keep the pressuer increase to an insignifant level. But still enough to prevent any dust from coming in. The fan and filter that you get will probably be an assembly with a replaceable filter. Look on Ebay. There surely mus be something. Bob AZ > Once you get the pressure up and clean up the dust that is already > there you should be in good shape. Also if there are any other [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > and carries out any dust that does get in. ,,,,,,,,,,, > Bob AZ unfortunately, i use a lot of solvents and oils. i became acutely aware of my enviroment when a friend visited me, and almost turned back from the "smell" eminating from my room,,,when in fact all the years of living with the stuff had made me oblivious to the odors. i had since then taken precautions to make sure there is open ventillation, ie a cracked open widow. maybe as clean as can be and one of those ozone-free purifiers from sharper image. i read all the bullsh!t, but they do collect some dust. "Bob AZ" wrote: > > Once you get the pressure up and clean up the dust that is > > already there you should be in good shape. Also if there [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > be where the air leaks and carries out any dust that does > > get in. ,,,,,,,,,,, "<bruin70@mail.com>" replied: > unfortunately, i use a lot of solvents and oils. i became acutely > aware of my enviroment when a friend visited me, and almost [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > from sharper image. i read all the bullsh!t, but they do collect > some dust. Darkroom "smells" are the very reason I chose not to install a positive-pressure ventilation solution in my darkroom. I know this drives some here crazy, but one of the reasons I continue to compound and use the Kodak F-5 formula is because I *like* the smell of an acid fixer. Probably has to do with attempting to recapture my youth, I'd guess... In any case, a positive airflow out of my darkroom and into the house would only guarantee that everyone else would be forced to share in my moments of deja vu as well. Instead, I chose to purchase a matched pair of small, circular blower fans and installed one as inflow and the other as outflow. The exhaust intake is situated near the room ceiling to remove heated, dirty air to the outside of the building. The inflow from the outside is lightly filtered and at eye level with a direction-adjustable duct. I then wired them together through an appropriate speed controller to allow an infinite range of synchronized airflows to be set. Even when running slowly, this system is very efficient in replacing the darkroom air with fresh air from outside the house, while maintaining an essentially neutral pressure to keep from sucking dust into the room, or forcing fumes out into the house. One can hardly tell it's even running. And dust already present in the air rises toward the ceiling with the warm air and is gently sucked out the exhaust without the need for expensive electrostatic air scrubbers. The net effect is a fairly clean environment with little effort on my part. It's worth noting that this is a basement darkroom situated right next to a room containing a wood-burning stove. The stove heats the house all winter and produces a substantial amount of ash and convection-induced "dust bunnies." Even so, the darkroom only needs a major cleaning about once a year. Ken i might try this,,,but STILL with circulating dust, even in minor air flow, the problem is that i paint in oils and the canvases are wet. unless i cover each and every canvas(and this can be a MAJOR pain in the arse as there can be up to 20 canvases exposed), circulating dust will embed onto the surface PERMANENTLY. i'm beginning to think there's no way around being forced to use an ionic breeze-type unit, since everyone's solution deals with fan blowers. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, > Instead, I chose to purchase a matched pair of small, circular blower fans > and installed one as inflow and the other as outflow. The exhaust intake is [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Ken > I might try this,,,but STILL with circulating dust, > even in minor air flow, ... Be real. If the air is motionless no device will clean it. An air scrubber may be what you need. As well as clean the air it will maintain a higher humidity which will suppress any further dust build up. Dan i might try this,,,but STILL with circulating dust, even in minor air flow, the problem is that i paint in oils and the canvases are wet. unless i cover each and every canvas(and this can be a MAJOR pain in the arse as there can be up to 20 canvases exposed), circulating dust will embed onto the surface PERMANENTLY. Things will be a lot better than they are now. And the next step expense is probably prohibitive and then some. At any rate the pressurized method will be so good that no one will notice any dust in the paint. Bob AZ The air moves past the collector plates with the "ionic" products as well, just no fans. With dust there will always be dust in motion, Brownian motion if no other, and everytime you move it will stir the dust. Painters have dealt with this for hundreds of years (your area of expertise not ours) but quickly reducing the amount of dust in the air is a really good first step.  Signaturedarkroommike > i might try this,,,but STILL with circulating dust, even in minor air > flow, the problem is that i paint in oils and the canvases are wet. [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > > > Ken > i might try this,,,but STILL with circulating dust, even in minor air > flow, the problem is that i paint in oils and the canvases are wet. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > ionic breeze-type unit, since everyone's solution deals with fan > blowers. If you investigate you will find that companies in which billions of dollars ride on the cleanliness of the work area, they rely on blowers and filters. There just isn't any other way to do it. Things like the "ionic breeze" may make you feel good about "doing something" but all they really accomplish is to separate you from your money. The key is that you don't just blow air around, you blow it through filters that take the dust out. And you have to plan the path the air will follow so that clean air fresh out of the filters goes where you need clean air. For example in many modern operating rooms the entire area above the table is just one big filter, so dust gets blown away from the patient. In electronics assembly the work benches are designed so that only filtered air flows across the bench surface. I'm sure if you think about it you can work out an arrangement for your studio where only filtered air moves past your canvases. > ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, >> Instead, I chose to purchase a matched pair of small, circular blower [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] >> >> Ken Signature--John to email, dial "usenet" and validate (was jclarke at eye bee em dot net) > i guess this is a good place to start.....especially if you're all > still doing darkroom photography :):):) [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > what is the best thing to use that meets my requirements? thanks all:) > i guess this is a good place to start.....especially if you're all > still doing darkroom photography :):):) [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > what is the best thing to use that meets my requirements? thanks all:) Use an industrial blower but make sure you cover your equipment up. use on with a bag to suck in the dust. www.a-promo.net >i guess this is a good place to start.....especially if you're all > still doing darkroom photography :):):) [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > what is the best thing to use that meets my requirements? thanks all:) I am the self-proclaimed "King of Dust"...and spiders. I have sealed and caulked my darkroom, have pressurized with filtered air and use an ionic thingy. The best contribution to eradicating my dust problems was when somebody here had me track down the dust source to a leaky dryer exhaust in the other room. So, I suggest eliminating the source of fresh dust in addition to everything else, and the ionic thingy helped a lot. > "... thingy ..." "... thingy ..." Thingy: an electrostatic precipitator. Dan > > "... thingy ..." "... thingy ..." > > Thingy: an electrostatic precipitator. Dan What exactly about thingies precipitated that response :) SignatureThe sometimes insomniac. www.gregblankphoto.com |
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