Warm water and a pan scrubber takes off permanent marker better than ethanol, I find.
Do you guys ever get grief over glassware not being sparkly clean?
- Thread starter Wervelwind
- Start date
labels are a pain, but if you can warm the glue without getting the paper wet, that is often enough to get it off.
When I label glass bottles, I press the glue side to my forearm first to lessen the tackiness just enough to make later removal easier... Needless to say I don't do loads at a time
And I find a 'magic sponge' (ESPO) is easiest for Sharpie pen labelling...
Oh my gosh, I need to have a little moan...
So when I started at this post in June as a lone tech, the dishwasher was broken. The previous tech had left in Feb and it hadn't been replaced.
I tried to get a new one but the budget was closed (and so had to wash food test prac etc. by hand!)
In Sept I had to 'plead my case' to finance that I needed one (and never been in a school that didn't have one!) Then, finally in Oct one arrived! Only to sit there for a month (dumped in front of the glassware shelves) as the caretakers had no time to fit. Finally up and running at the start of this month. Did two loads and then found out it was leaking to the downstairs prep room. So it's been disconnected - apparently there's a faulty washer.
So now I've got a new dishwasher but still can't use it...
So when I started at this post in June as a lone tech, the dishwasher was broken. The previous tech had left in Feb and it hadn't been replaced.
I tried to get a new one but the budget was closed (and so had to wash food test prac etc. by hand!)
In Sept I had to 'plead my case' to finance that I needed one (and never been in a school that didn't have one!) Then, finally in Oct one arrived! Only to sit there for a month (dumped in front of the glassware shelves) as the caretakers had no time to fit. Finally up and running at the start of this month. Did two loads and then found out it was leaking to the downstairs prep room. So it's been disconnected - apparently there's a faulty washer.
So now I've got a new dishwasher but still can't use it...
So, no don't think they'd complain here...
(I have to give them back still wet, nowhere to dry the test tubes - don't even have a test tube drying rack!)
(I have to give them back still wet, nowhere to dry the test tubes - don't even have a test tube drying rack!)
Last week, I had to make a mixture of sand, copper oxide, oil, salt, water and iron in glass beakers. That mixture produces a black sticky fluid that's like octopus ink. I have hand-washed the beakers like three times, using a bottle brush cleaner, a scourer and hot water. Many are still dirty. I am about to give up
Teachers usually complain if they're so dirty not even light can get through them, or if there are tiny pieces of metal that react with an acid (this happened to me). What I do in these cases is to leave the boiling tubes / test tubes / beakers soaking with nitric acid overnight. The day after, I wash them by hand.
Some stains won't go away, though. I keep these bottles to store the same chemical. Examples? Iron (II) sulphate and methylene blue solutions...
Teachers usually complain if they're so dirty not even light can get through them, or if there are tiny pieces of metal that react with an acid (this happened to me). What I do in these cases is to leave the boiling tubes / test tubes / beakers soaking with nitric acid overnight. The day after, I wash them by hand.
Some stains won't go away, though. I keep these bottles to store the same chemical. Examples? Iron (II) sulphate and methylene blue solutions...
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Do so thenI am about to give up
250ml beaker is about £1 each - if you spend too long cleaning a beaker that isn't going to get clean you're wasting your time, which is more valuable than replacing the beaker
This sounds like hell on earth.
The magnets also agree.
I hope you can get the teachers to reconsider that practical for next year... I assume it's a "homemade" ferrofluid? Might aswell just buy some proper stuff and save the hassle. Or is it a separation techniques thing?
Separation techniques thing. Fortunately for me, the teacher told me last time to not add CuO, because pupils didn't know how to separate it using H2SO4.
Still, the magnets are hard to clean... we wrap them in cling film to make the cleaning easier.
There are still several CuO patches in the sink. Maybe next time I will mix it with H2SO4 to get CuSO4, which is far easier to clean.
Honestly just sounds like something that can be all done separately.
Our school does Sand and salt (Water + filter to evaporate), sand and iron fillings (Magnetic separation), oil and water (separating funnel), and Copper oxide with sulphuric. If anything the learning outcomes is better and more distinct that way no?
Peter Dale
Dammit man! I'm a technician, not a magician!
I put the magnets in bags and call them 'Bagnets'.
Most I will mix is salt, sand, and pebbles now. We were told by our H&S lead not to use iron filings anymore outside of teacher demos, as a student from another school got some in their eyes and they rusted in the eye fluids. Was quite nasty from what I heard.
Most I will mix is salt, sand, and pebbles now. We were told by our H&S lead not to use iron filings anymore outside of teacher demos, as a student from another school got some in their eyes and they rusted in the eye fluids. Was quite nasty from what I heard.
The practical is the following: students have to imagine they are in a desert island and have to get clean water for survival. To simulate this, we hand them a mixture of water contaminated with oil, CuO, sand, etc.
Bags? I like the idea!!
OMG I didn't know this could happen with iron fillings... students wear goggles during these practicals, so the risk should be minimal... (one swallowed a solution of CuSO4 the other day, so there's always some risk).
I've known a kid drink some, they turned out alright; apparently it was just a sip... Maybe they thought they'd turn blue like in charlie and the chocolate factory ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The nurse panicked... I then explained to her that the solutions students handle aren't very dangerous (i.e., it's not necessary to rush to the hospital if they touch them without gloves, or swallow a small amount).
I would love to have this problem! I've go the opposite one.
I have to check the cupboards regularly since our chemistry teacher "rinses" the glassware and puts it back in the cupboards directly! Sometimes with chemicals still in them, staining the shelves and all.
"It's nothing dangerous, and we're only doing bucket chemistry" so apparently no need for clean glassware?
I used to work in a research lab and while I know we don't need the same level of cleanliness, I still feel we need to have some kind of control over what's going on?
Blows my mind.
I have to check the cupboards regularly since our chemistry teacher "rinses" the glassware and puts it back in the cupboards directly! Sometimes with chemicals still in them, staining the shelves and all.
"It's nothing dangerous, and we're only doing bucket chemistry" so apparently no need for clean glassware?
I used to work in a research lab and while I know we don't need the same level of cleanliness, I still feel we need to have some kind of control over what's going on?
Blows my mind.
Another reason not to keep glassware in labs.
The only situation where I go full-on cleaning mode (detergent & hot water scrub, strong alkali, conc acid, distilled water) is for Tollens silvering, and even then only for the big "top the chemistree" flask. Test tubes to simply show the reaction work well enough with a good detergent brush and rinse with distilled.