Cleaning Animal Cages
Q. I am a research tech in a new lab where we will be housing mice and rats for our studies. Since we are a small lab, I will be hand washing polycarbonate cages, wire lids, and water bottles by hand. I would like to know what type of cleaner that I can use that is safe for myself to clean with and safe for the animals. I currently have alconox in powdered form. If I can use that, I also would like to know how much I would dilute it.
A. We recommend using 0.5% Detojet® solution with polycarbonate. Regular detergents like Alconox® or most other detergents and solvents are low surface tension solutions that can cause stress cracking …
Cleaning Cell Culture Tubes
I am using reusable cell culture tubes for boiling urine samples at 121°C with 8M NaOH solution. After this application, there is a white stain inside, which I can’t scrub off. I used Alconox at the concentration on the container: 3-5 Tbsp/gal. I’ve soaked them, scrubbed them, and then also sonicated in a cold Alconox solution for 30 min….
Why “No Phosphates” for Medical Instrument Cleaning?
Q: Why do some medical instrument makers caution against cleaning with phosphate cleaners? A: This derives from fear of Tri Sodium Phoshpate (TSP) cleaners that can have a pH of 12 in a 1% solution, which OSHA, for example, would define as corrosive, meaning…
Cleaning Denatured Proteins
We are looking to clean denatured proteins from our medical device along with baked-on desiccated blood that is not removed completely. Manual scraping removes the residual but is not acceptable. Need a cleaner that will dissolve all bio-matter. Cleaning process is to prepare device for autoclave sterilization.
Using Alconox Detergents in Ultrasonic Machines
Q. Which Alconox brand cleaners can be used in an ultrasonic machine?
A. All Alconox brands can be used in ultrasonic machines. Alconox, Inc. generally recommends using high emulsifying detergents. For example . . .