MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Is there any way to make cover glasses more visible. I was my slides and cover glasses and put them on a soft cloth to dry. I often can't see the cover glasses--they are all but invisible. I even tried coating the edges with red nail polish but ended up ruining the cover glass. Does anyone have this problem?

DonSchaeffer wrote: ↑

Thu May 07, 2020 5:46 pm

Does anyone have this problem?

Yes! but not an entire solution.
The best I have come up with to date is to prop them up at a 45deg angle approx against something (plastic lid or similar) on top of the cloth (kitchen tissue) and mark the cloth with a black cross just in front of the regiment of cover glasses, to remind me that something invisible lurks nearby.

It is advisable to alert the domestic authority /kitchen staff/ and remove as soon as they are dry to a safe container

Watching with interest for other ideas.

That's a thoughtful suggestion. Thanks.

I use that plastic strip with sharp points along it. It's meant for the tops of walls, fences etc to deter climbing-over by placing sharp points along the top. I use strips of one of the smaller sizes, placing clean coverslips propped-up against the spikes in rows ready to hand during my slide-making sessions....

This is the sort I use - strips about 6 inches long and about 3 inches wide - simple and useful. They're also handy to similarly hold cleaned slides. They also make good drying-racks as they fit in my air-dryer with coverslips and/or slides on-board.

Here's an image of some coverslip-mounted sections standing in one length of spikes as above..... If you have trouble seeing them just put the strip on or in front-of a piece of black card or similar - I can always see them easily with or without anything on them...

Now that's an idea. I wonder if I could use muffin tins.

I'm using a paper egg carton. Thanks for the idea.