Cleaning Guanidine Thiocyanate and Sodium Azide

Q: What do you recommend to clean guanidine thiocyanate and sodium azide from a centrifuge.  The centrifuge manufacturer requests a low foaming neutral cleaner. There may also be enzymatic residues.

A: To remove salts like guanidine thiocyanate and sodium azide, and other inorganics, we would normally recommend Citranox® Liquid Acid Cleaner and Detergent.  You did request a low foaming option, and can consider its low foaming sibling: Citrajet® Low-Foam Liquid Acid Cleaner/Rinse.    

However, those are both mild, but acidic in nature detergents.  Luminox® Low-Foaming Neutral pH Liquid Detergent would be an answer for a truly low foaming neutral product.  As aluminum, stainless steel, and plastic surfaces are in play, both acidic and neutral detergents would be safe. 

These would all be recommended at 1-2% warm solutions and thorough rinsing.  

Depending on the nature of the enzymes, the above detergents may provide adequate critical cleaning, however, an enzymatic detergent that could breakdown the residual enzymes (enzyme are proteins) could be needed.  This is where Tergazyme® Enzyme-Active Powdered Detergent would be a perfect choice.  

To request 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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