How to Clean Labware: Don’t Use Grocery Store Detergents

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? How does it clean labware more appropriately?

A. Here are some insights as to why a grocery store detergent is not suitable to clean labware:

• They can contain fragrances, dyes, emollients, microbial stabilizers, and cationic disinfectants – all of which have the potential to stick to glass and leave interfering residues. A “lemon fresh scent” on your glassware is not desirable.
• They can vary their formulations at will and may even have different formulations when made at different factories, which has the potential to lead to inconsistent cleaning results for some difficult laboratory residues.
• They are sometimes not shelf-life controlled so you cannot be sure you are getting effective detergent.

Typical detergents used in laboratories around the world are:

• Alconox® Powdered Precision Cleaner and Liquinox® Critical Cleaning Liquid Detergent – manual and ultrasonic cleaning
• Alcojet® Low Foaming Powdered Detergent and Solujet® Low-Foaming Phosphate-Free Liquid – washer use

To request these or any Alconox, Inc. detergents for free, please complete the questionnaire at Get Sample. For more information about any one of our Alconox, Inc. detergents, consult the technical bulletin for each product. Or click here to access each of our detergent’s Safety Data Sheets.

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