A stupid question: any good practice in cover slip cleaning?

[osterport]

Hi, all

There are always some dirt on the cover slip, which is quite annoying and sometimes impacts the image quality underneath.

Is there any good practice to clean it and keep it clean for a while?

Thanks

[Alexander]

Cook them in chromosulfuric acid. They will become as clean as one could want.

[apochronaut]

and when your supply of chromosulfuric acid runs out, you can gently use just enough scentless dish detergent that will stick to your index finger and thumb and cheap distilled white vinegar ( about 3.00 for 4 liters). Rub it around on both sides between your index finger and thumb, while holding the edges with your other index finger and thumb, then thorougly rinse under a fine stream from the tap.i do about 10 at a time and slides too.
Lay each on a lintless absorbent tissue or cloth, then dry each in turn with a lintless wipe and blow each surface briefly with air from a bulb blower. They get checked under a stereo mic. prior to use, especially for DF.

I have been cleaning microscope glass in this fashion for decades and have cleaned thousands.. After two boughts of Lyme disease, spinal stenosis and a good dose of mercury when younger, my neurology is less than ideal now but my frequency of breakage is still only about 1 in 10 or so. Coverslip glass has a crumbly quality to it and when a slip breaks while cleaning, I just crush it further and wash it down the sink. Usually the ones that break are specialty slips of .08 to .12 thickness. I have never been cut, if you are wondering.

[Free2Fish]

Thanks for that, a timely introduction to slide cleaning for me.
In my first attempt yesterday of making a permanent mount slide, I was appalled at the amount of dirt, dust and other debris on “new” slides and coverslips.
Harry

[zzffnn]

When I worked as a microbiologist, our lab did use acids to wash cover slips. But now at home without a lab, I simply use a cotton or silk cloth to gently wipe them clean then rinse off with water. Most of the times, they work well enough for darkfield (after my wiping).

[Sure Squintsalot]

Dirty Cover slips are my bane.

Preliminary cleaning: Wipe with a kleenex and generously applied methanol or isopropyl alcohol

Final wet cleaning: Use a lens cloth and optical-grade lens cleaner

Final Air cleaning: Blow off the contact surface with canned air before applying to slide.

Lens cloth is fine. I do hi-mag dark field and have never seen scratches or artifacts from this process.

Also....don't re-use either the kleenex or the lens cloth too many times lest you start wiping old crud on top of new crud.

[osterport]

Thanks all for the recommendation. Let me try it.

[jackieone]

Glad I just saw this thread. Perfect timing for me! Thanks!