TechNotes

Q: What can I use to replace hazardous acids below pH 1 cleaning?
A: Depending on exactly what you are using your acid cleaning to do, we may be able to help you.

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Q: Is a 1% Alconox solution stable in tap water? How long can 1% Alconox be stored as solution? Is pH measurement the best estimate of stability?. A: lconox® Powdered Precision Cleaner,  is stable in tap water (or any purity water- within reason) for….

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Q. We use grocery store detergents to clean our labware and it recently came to my attention that we may need to switch to a laboratory grade detergent such as Alconox or Liquinox. Why is that necessary?

A. Here are some insights as to why a grocery store detergent is not suitable for use in a lab…

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Q:I was wondering if you have a product that I can use in an ultrasonic cleaner to clean tungsten carbide that would not leach out cobalt? That also can be disposed of down a drain?

A: Tungsten carbide (WC) cleaning comes with some inherent issues, and the cleaning cycle that accompanies it will depend entirely on the feed stock (components to be cleaned) that the process comes from. This is where Alconox, Inc., as the critical cleaning experts, excel from our experience and vast pool of applications to draw upon.

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Q. What are some best practices for lab cleaning of pipettes. We’re having trouble in our lab removing dried on residues.
A. The principal concern for any scientist or technician working in the laboratory is that glassware, like pipettes, be free of interfering residues after they are cleaned. Unseen residues can wreak havoc on analytical results by inhibiting culture growth, causing cross contamination, non-reproducible results and more.   

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Q. How can I clean proteins, RNA, and DNA from laboratory equipment?

A. Thank you for your question concerning cleaning proteins, RNA and DNA from laboratory equipment.

We will address each separately . . .

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Q. Our lab just has a regular household dishwasher that we use to clean labware. I heard this is not ideal, but it’s what we have. We’re using Alcojet detergent, but the instructions say to turn it into a liquid by diluting….

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Q. Is there any way to “eyeball” surface tension to see if it’s dropping when roughly measuring concentration or bath life?  
A. To numerically measure surface tension, you need a tensiometer and this is the recommended method. Tensiometers come in many varieties including…

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Q. We are currently writing a protocol for conducting a process validation activity for our cleaning procedures for metal parts after our machining manufacturing process. What are the differences between cleaning effectiveness of Alconox detergent for cleaning various metallic surfaces such as stainless steel, titanium and cobalt chrome? Also, does Alconox detergent effectiveness change based on contamination characteristics, surface geometry or any other factors?

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Q: We manufacture medical devices. Can we use our Alconox or Citranox bath solution more than once? How do we know that we need to change the solution?

A: For the highest level of cleanliness, you only use a solution once. In general, in a medical device manufacturing and cleaning operation, a detergent bath will typically easily last for 8 hours.

For example, you can make up a fresh Alconox® or Citranox® solution once a day and then verify that the pH has not changed more …

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