Don't Aim Fans at Screens

Air movement in your darkroom is necessary—but the wrong kind of airflow can wreck your screens. Fans that blow directly onto freshly coated screens stir up lint, dust, and micro-fibers that settle into wet emulsion, causing pinholes and inconsistent exposure. 

The problem isn’t always obvious until you’re on press cleaning up preventable flaws. A smarter setup is to assign one clean, lint-free fan that never leaves the darkroom. Keep it positioned to circulate air across the room rather than blasting directly at screens. 

For even better control, invest in a bladeless fan like a Dyson model; without blades, it collects far less dust and reduces particle movement around sensitive areas. While a cheap box fan might seem harmless, every dust burst it kicks up risks contaminating an entire rack of coated screens. 

Good airflow should move evenly, quietly, and cleanly—helping your screens dry faster without sacrificing quality. In short: circulate air, don’t blast it.