PVA-G vs glycerin jelly

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pippo1234
Posts: 81
Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2020 8:21 am

PVA-G vs glycerin jelly

#1 Post by pippo1234 » Fri Mar 05, 2021 2:14 pm

I seem not to be the only one to have recently become interest in PVA-G (see previous thread).

It turns out that Borax (one of the ingredients) is still available in the UK, though not at mainstream suppliers. According to sellers on Amazon it's no longer allowed for sale, but... just google.

So this week I started to experiment with PVA-G. I attach two pictures of daffodil pollen (same exposure, jpeg from the camera with no processing). The first one is a PVA-G mount, the second one glycerin jelly, I would say PVA-G offers a bit more contrast.

Other than that, I'd say they are equally easy/difficult to work with (I am just a beginner) as long as you warm up your slides and coverslips when using the jelly (6£ coffee warmer from eBay is all you need). I'd say even PVA-G benefits from some gentle warming of the slides. You get fewer bubbles (alas, still more than I would like, but that is operator error).

Here are the links to the full res images
https://ibb.co/Y79MJcq
https://ibb.co/SBgxq5W

Image
Image

TonyT
Posts: 184
Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2020 8:30 pm
Location: New Brunswick, CANADA

Re: PVA-G vs glycerin jelly

#2 Post by TonyT » Fri Mar 05, 2021 3:13 pm

One 'trick' when using PVA-G is to use several very thin layers. I place my specimen on a slide (in the example I have previously 'ringed' the slide) either in a small drop of glycerin or in water. Carefully add a drop of PVA-G, let it drop but do not touch it. Leave for several hours under a cover so that no dust lands on it. The drop will shrink. Add another drop, etc. The slide shows about 4 layers of PVA-G. A few tiny air bubbles can be seen, some indicated others left to show how small they are. Easy to clone out.
One potential problem with PVA-G is the borax is a stain remover!. This specimen was stained blue, the borax has cleared the stain.
For stained specimens best to use PVA/glycerin.
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pippo1234
Posts: 81
Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2020 8:21 am

Re: PVA-G vs glycerin jelly

#3 Post by pippo1234 » Fri Mar 05, 2021 3:25 pm

The recipe by Zander in a previous thread (still visible on this subforum landing page) omits borax.

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