How to clean coverslips?

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LouiseScot
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How to clean coverslips?

#1 Post by LouiseScot » Thu Mar 18, 2021 12:36 pm

Hi
I've been keeping my coverslips in ipa in the belief (hope!) that would keep them clean. But it doesn't seem to work as I would expect. Hmm... Looking at a coverslip on a slide but with no other sample, the coverslip appears to be covered in tiny glass fragments e.g.(darkfield):

Cslip_1387_20pc.jpg
Cslip_1387_20pc.jpg (23.04 KiB) Viewed 6985 times

There must be a more reliable way of cleaning them? They were actually bought as 'clean' (Ebay/AmScope, I think, but can't remember now) but they weren't really :(
If anyone knows a UK source of truly clean, good quality coverslips, please let me know!

Thanks

Louise
A Nikon CF plan 20x; A Swift 380T; A DIY infinity corrected focus rail system with a 40x/0.65 Olympus Plan, a 10x/0.30 Amscope Plan Fluor, and a 20x/0.75 Nikon Plan Apo

dtsh
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Re: How to clean coverslips?

#2 Post by dtsh » Thu Mar 18, 2021 1:49 pm

Just soaking them in IPA isn't going to remove debris from the surface, more stuborn debris will need to be removed somehow. I suspect most just throw them out as they are delicate and easily broken. I have been known to clean a few that have been lightly used by rinsing in distilled water and allowingthem to air dry or drying with a piece of lens tissue. I then put them in a separate pack to keep them separate from the new ones. Anytime it matters I just grab a new one.

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Re: How to clean coverslips?

#3 Post by viktor j nilsson » Thu Mar 18, 2021 2:09 pm

Darkfield is extremely demanding, it brings out all the little dust specks.

Very few, if any, boxes of cover glass seem to come clean enough out of the box for high NA darkfield. This was a pretty interesting discussion on different ways of getting them as clean as possible:

https://www.microbehunter.com/microscop ... 14&t=11937

LouiseScot
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Re: How to clean coverslips?

#4 Post by LouiseScot » Thu Mar 18, 2021 2:24 pm

Thanks for the input guys! I should point out these are brand new coverslips which I've taken out of their package and put into isopropanol a la @MicroBob. It looks like I'll have to try washing them in detergent first, rinsing with deionized water and storing them in something convenient and protective. I appreciate darkfield shows up lots of stuff one might not normally notice so much but I do still see stuff in brightfield. It may be, as mentioned in the link, that the coverslips are sold with a fine coating of talc, or some other inert powder, in order to aid separation. However, they can still need fiddling with to separate. It's not difficult to think you've put one coverslip on only to later discover there are two!

Louise
A Nikon CF plan 20x; A Swift 380T; A DIY infinity corrected focus rail system with a 40x/0.65 Olympus Plan, a 10x/0.30 Amscope Plan Fluor, and a 20x/0.75 Nikon Plan Apo

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Crater Eddie
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Re: How to clean coverslips?

#5 Post by Crater Eddie » Thu Mar 18, 2021 3:30 pm

The Amscope branded coverslips and slides are notorious for being filthy right out of the box. We had this discussion a few years ago, seems it pays to spend a bit more brass for brand name glass. The Globe brand slides and cover slips that I bought on Amazon some years ago were very clean. Your mileage may vary of course.
CE
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Re: How to clean coverslips?

#6 Post by Hobbyst46 » Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:27 pm

Inexpensive coverslips from China cost a tiny fraction of the cost of good quality, brand-name coverslips, and they are dirty right from the box. I do not think it is talc, because often, mild wiping with damp cloth will not remove the stains. Neither will rinsing with ethanol or acetone.
So I boil them in water, brush with a solution of dish soap, then rinse with DW, lay on a Kimwipe to dry and store in a closed container.
Used coverslips, from a wet mount, I rinse with soapy water, then DW and store dry.
Storage in alcohol, per se, is no guarantee against dirt. Glass adsorbs many tiny particles and those are quite strongly attached to the surface.
Good quality Menzel-Glaser coverslips are clean.

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Re: How to clean coverslips?

#7 Post by LouiseScot » Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:29 pm

Crater Eddie wrote:
Thu Mar 18, 2021 3:30 pm
The Amscope branded coverslips and slides are notorious for being filthy right out of the box. We had this discussion a few years ago, seems it pays to spend a bit more brass for brand name glass. The Globe brand slides and cover slips that I bought on Amazon some years ago were very clean. Your mileage may vary of course.
CE
Hiya

These are the ones I last bought https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AmScope-100p ... 3606528839
They say 'cleaned'....

Louise
A Nikon CF plan 20x; A Swift 380T; A DIY infinity corrected focus rail system with a 40x/0.65 Olympus Plan, a 10x/0.30 Amscope Plan Fluor, and a 20x/0.75 Nikon Plan Apo

D0c
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Re: How to clean coverslips?

#8 Post by D0c » Thu Mar 18, 2021 5:30 pm

I'm using the same ones Louise and they are pretty awful, not cleaned at all.

I use mine at quite a fast rate so I'm just chucking them away so hopefully will get through them pretty quick and buy some decent ones next time.
Leitz SM-Lux

Red_Green
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Re: How to clean coverslips?

#9 Post by Red_Green » Thu Mar 18, 2021 5:32 pm

Iuse amscope. There fine. After awhile though after several cleanings they start to appear hazy or whatever. I clean them in alcohol.

Anybody ever try the windex? The worlds best glass cleaner, eh.

DonSchaeffer
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Re: How to clean coverslips?

#10 Post by DonSchaeffer » Thu Mar 18, 2021 5:57 pm

I'm used to focusing through things, including cover glass dirt.

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SilverWolf
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Re: How to clean coverslips?

#11 Post by SilverWolf » Thu Mar 18, 2021 7:09 pm

All my cheaper cover slips (slides as well) say they are clean but were in fact grubby with pollutants and smears. I just use small amount liquid soap/detergent and warm tap water in a steel bowl and wash them all by hand, I then rinse twice in bowls of clean distilled water (very hard water here). I then dry with a paper towel and then a final wipe clean with a Pec Pad to make sure no smears or lint etc is left.

You do get the odd cover slip break, I did 1,000 slips the other day and had about dozen or so break. When I first started cleaning I used to lose about 5-10 slips per 100.

I'm retired with all the time in the world and a real life tight wad as well lol, but I will say while easy as to clean it takes a lot of time and I would understand why many wouldn't want to bother themselves with such effort. Better quality slips and slides I have from laboratory suppliers come much cleaner when new (though I notice some still not perfectly clean) and I also find the better quality slides and slips clean easier.

So yes it's certainly possible to clean slips and slides, most likely many ways you could clean them but it'll be how fussy you are with the drying and removal of any lint/pollutants as to the final outcome.
Cheers
Wolf :ugeek:

LouiseScot
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Re: How to clean coverslips?

#12 Post by LouiseScot » Thu Mar 18, 2021 7:27 pm

SilverWolf wrote:
Thu Mar 18, 2021 7:09 pm
All my cheaper cover slips (slides as well) say they are clean but were in fact grubby with pollutants and smears. I just use small amount liquid soap/detergent and warm tap water in a steel bowl and wash them all by hand, I then rinse twice in bowls of clean distilled water (very hard water here). I then dry with a paper towel and then a final wipe clean with a Pec Pad to make sure no smears or lint etc is left.

You do get the odd cover slip break, I did 1,000 slips the other day and had about dozen or so break. When I first started cleaning I used to lose about 5-10 slips per 100.

I'm retired with all the time in the world and a real life tight wad as well lol, but I will say while easy as to clean it takes a lot of time and I would understand why many wouldn't want to bother themselves with such effort. Better quality slips and slides I have from laboratory suppliers come much cleaner when new (though I notice some still not perfectly clean) and I also find the better quality slides and slips clean easier.

So yes it's certainly possible to clean slips and slides, most likely many ways you could clean them but it'll be how fussy you are with the drying and removal of any lint/pollutants as to the final outcome.
I don't get through so many, lol. Probably no more than in the region of 30/year, though have increased my rate a bit recently :) I never re-use them - life is too short! As I said above I'll have a go at properly washing and drying them, and storing them dry.
Cheers

Louise
A Nikon CF plan 20x; A Swift 380T; A DIY infinity corrected focus rail system with a 40x/0.65 Olympus Plan, a 10x/0.30 Amscope Plan Fluor, and a 20x/0.75 Nikon Plan Apo

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Crater Eddie
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Re: How to clean coverslips?

#13 Post by Crater Eddie » Thu Mar 18, 2021 7:46 pm

LouiseScot wrote:
Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:29 pm
They say 'cleaned'....
You have to take anything that Amscope says with a grain of salt. Sometimes a truckload of salt.
CE
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LouiseScot
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Re: How to clean coverslips?

#14 Post by LouiseScot » Thu Mar 18, 2021 7:53 pm

Crater Eddie wrote:
Thu Mar 18, 2021 7:46 pm
LouiseScot wrote:
Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:29 pm
They say 'cleaned'....
You have to take anything that Amscope says with a grain of salt. Sometimes a truckload of salt.
CE
It may be that I created the problem myself by putting a bunch of coverslips in a jar of isopropanol and shaking them around. On reflection, although it seemed innocent enough, that probably wasn't such a good thing to do!

Louise
A Nikon CF plan 20x; A Swift 380T; A DIY infinity corrected focus rail system with a 40x/0.65 Olympus Plan, a 10x/0.30 Amscope Plan Fluor, and a 20x/0.75 Nikon Plan Apo

MicroBob
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Re: How to clean coverslips?

#15 Post by MicroBob » Thu Mar 18, 2021 8:05 pm

Hi Louise,
I think the important part of my isopropanol trick is that I wipe them clean with paper tissue after I take them out.

Normal cover slips are made from good borosilicate glass and don't get hazy over time as soda lime glass slides tend to do. But I had some types of inferior glass quality that didn't fully clean up no matter how I cleaned them.

I have two little jars in my office lab: One for glass to throw away separately, one for glass to wash up. Here I put glass pipettes, slides cover slips, well slides, little bottles etc.. I add a little dish washer powder and warm water and let this stand for a a couple of hours. Afterwards it is easy to get clean to be reused.

Bob

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Re: How to clean coverslips?

#16 Post by LouiseScot » Thu Mar 18, 2021 8:11 pm

MicroBob wrote:
Thu Mar 18, 2021 8:05 pm
Hi Louise,
I think the important part of my isopropanol trick is that I wipe them clean with paper tissue after I take them out.

Normal cover slips are made from good borosilicate glass and don't get hazy over time as soda lime glass slides tend to do. But I had some types of inferior glass quality that didn't fully clean up no matter how I cleaned them.

I have two little jars in my office lab: One for glass to throw away separately, one for glass to wash up. Here I put glass pipettes, slides cover slips, well slides, little bottles etc.. I add a little dish washer powder and warm water and let this stand for a a couple of hours. Afterwards it is easy to get clean to be reused.

Bob
Well, these are new so shouldn't be glass that's aged. As I say, I'll have a go at 'washing them up', but I need something convenient to put them in after. Some sort of small plastic box, perhaps.

Louise
A Nikon CF plan 20x; A Swift 380T; A DIY infinity corrected focus rail system with a 40x/0.65 Olympus Plan, a 10x/0.30 Amscope Plan Fluor, and a 20x/0.75 Nikon Plan Apo

Heliozian
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Re: How to clean coverslips?

#17 Post by Heliozian » Thu Mar 18, 2021 11:30 pm

I rinse my samples back into the jar or whatever with a pippette of tap water that's stood for a couple of days then clean the cover slip with a sheet of kitchen tissue between my fingers. I'm fairly vigorous. I thought it might scratch the cover slip but so far I don't think it has. Once it's clean and dry I give it a quick wipe with a lint free cloth and pop it (and the slide which has had the same treatment) on the microscope stage before covering the scope so the are ready for tomorrow. Phase contrast, oblique illumination and darkfield - all of which show up the marks - seem fine with them. I have bought a box of slides which started life clean and some old but clean cover slips and that seems to help. I have had some dirty slides which nothing on earth seemed to clean. I eventually gave up on them. If something starts dirty you can be fighting an uphill battle.
I don't claim my way is right - just that it works for me and I am another parsimonious old git who expects to get years of good service out of every cover slip :-)
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LouiseScot
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Re: How to clean coverslips?

#18 Post by LouiseScot » Thu Mar 18, 2021 11:38 pm

Heliozian wrote:
Thu Mar 18, 2021 11:30 pm
I rinse my samples back into the jar or whatever with a pippette of tap water that's stood for a couple of days then clean the cover slip with a sheet of kitchen tissue between my fingers. I'm fairly vigorous. I thought it might scratch the cover slip but so far I don't think it has. Once it's clean and dry I give it a quick wipe with a lint free cloth and pop it (and the slide which has had the same treatment) on the microscope stage before covering the scope so the are ready for tomorrow. Phase contrast, oblique illumination and darkfield - all of which show up the marks - seem fine with them. I have bought a box of slides which started life clean and some old but clean cover slips and that seems to help. I have had some dirty slides which nothing on earth seemed to clean. I eventually gave up on them. If something starts dirty you can be fighting an uphill battle.
I don't claim my way is right - just that it works for me and I am another parsimonious old git who expects to get years of good service out of every cover slip :-)
I suppose it depends how much you pay for your slides and coverslips. Me, I go fairly cheap - use once, dispose! I don't really need any permanent slides I make to last particularly long, and nobody else is ever going to view them :)

Louise

ps thinking about it, I probably have enough slides and coverslips to last for the duration of my microscopy hobby!
A Nikon CF plan 20x; A Swift 380T; A DIY infinity corrected focus rail system with a 40x/0.65 Olympus Plan, a 10x/0.30 Amscope Plan Fluor, and a 20x/0.75 Nikon Plan Apo

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