TechNotes

Rinse aids work by placing rinse aid residue on the surface of glasses and smallware being cleaned. The residue in the rinse aids left on surfaces are hydrophobic molecules, which stick to the surface to repel water. Less water on the surface, means less water that needs dried, and that leaves less water available to make streaks and water spots.  But there’s a problem…

Read the full story

Surface contamination interferes with formation of protective oxide coating on stainless steel thereby leaving it open to corrosion. The stainless steel needs passivation.

Read the full story

Q. I am seeing a white powder around solder joints on PCBs.  Is this solder flux? We use Detergent 8 for cleaning. Do you know why this is happening and how to stop or remove it?
A. There are several ways of approaching this common issue of solder flux and its removal. For example, One way to fix this problem is to lower the temperature when soldering. In another scenario, a leading aerospace manufacturer studied putting potassium silicate (10 mL in 10 L) into the Detergent 8 bath to act as an inhibitor to stop the formation of these white salts.

Read the full story

Q. Our pharmaceutical company is transferring product manufacture to a different one our facilities. We used a CIP cleaning process with Citrajet and are going to have to perform validation and verification tests again. What information do we need for our testing? Chemical properties might be helpful as well as the science on how this chemical works. We would also need information on disposal and the requirements for allowing this to flow to normal process drains.

Read the full story

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 . . .

Read the full story

I work in a lab here in London, and we are washing lab glassware (molecular biology/bacteria) with a standard home dishwasher. We do not have access to distilled water for rinsing, and our water is very hard. Will Citrajet be okay under those conditions? Also, do you have a distributor for Citrajet in the UK?

Read the full story

Do you have a known solution for removing erythrosine from stainless steel? Erythrosine is also known as Red 3 when used as a cosmetic. Sometimes the cleaning is manual, other times it is automated.

Read the full story

Q. What detergents and recommended dosing should I use in my labware washer? A. For use in a typical small, under counter laboratory glassware washer…

Read the full story

A non-free rinsing cleaner might contain fragrances that were designed to deposit and leave a fresh scent, or it might contain corrosion inhibitors that are designed to deposit and leave behind an anti-corrosion film.

Alconox, Inc, cleaners are free rinsing detergents and do not leave deposits on substrates after rinsing.

Read the full story

Q. What do you recommend for cleaning glass equipment between salt tests? We are removing inorganic salt residue. A. There are many kinds of salt tests, such as corrosion, resistance, conductivity or solubility. When removing inorganic salt residue from a glass substrate, such as sodium chloride, calcium chloride, calcium carbonate or magnesium carbonate, we recommend…

Read the full story