Cover slip drying and storage container

[farnsy]

Hi Folks. I have been searching for a way to store cover slips after cleaning that will make them easily accessible (not stuck together), allows them to dry after washing, and is a reasonable storage solution. It's easy to find this type of thing for slides, but I couldn't find anything that works for cover slips, so I made a 3D printing solution up for them. I've been through a few iterations and this is the most easy-to-use design I've come up with.




You can grab it on thingiverse.

My intention is to sort my slides by thickness using a micrometer and have one of these (in a different color) for each thickness, so I can grab the right one for each purpose.

I'm always looking to improve, so let me know if you have any suggestions for improvement. I hope it's useful to someone.

[dtsh]

Nice solution, the printer is so handy.

[Greg Howald]

You did a really nice job with that. I congratulate you for your ingenuity and your desire to preserve the cover slips. I'll be honest. I just throw them out.
Greg

[75RR]

.
That looks quite handy.

I also measure and reuse my cover slips - I dry them by hand before putting them away, however a little extra air-drying and storage separation is all to the good.

[farnsy]

I also measure and reuse my cover slips - I dry them by hand before putting them away, however a little extra air-drying and storage separation is all to the good.

Do you get unwanted fibers in there? That was one of my motivations for switching to distilled water and air dry away from the paper or cloth towels I used to use. Although I also have a hard time keeping them clean in general, organized, and separable.

I'm actually really curious about how people treat, clean, and keep their coverslips and slides. Kind of want to start a thread about it and get some input. I believe someone said they clean it with both distilled water and then alcohol. I wonder why. Perhaps the alcohol dries faster?

[MicroBob]

One possibility is to store cover slips in alcohol and wipe them when they are taken out. This is useful when they are dirty from new on and have to be cleaned intensively anyway.

[tgss]

Hi farnsy
Oddly enough I printed something quite similar a while ago, because I have all the same questions regarding cover slip cleaning and storage as you do, and am still short of answers
The one I printed differs in that It holds the slides rotated 45 degrees, and of course the really major difference is that it is green.
I am thinking of printing a slightly modified version to be used during the cleaning process, rather than just for drying and storage afterwards, where the cleaning process is ultrasonic.
Cheers
Tom W.