Methylene blue, staining cheek cells

L

Locker

Hi, I've been asked for methylene blue solution to stain cheek cells. Due to my becoming a technician during Covid, this is the first time I've been asked for this.
I have a stock bottle of methylene blue that says 0.015%. Do I need to dilute it for them to use as a stain, or should i just give it to them straight?
Thank you for your help!
 
Smiff12 said:
That should be ok for what they need. I usually give a very weak solution. It sounds like that has already been diluted down from a stock solution which will probably have been made from a powder originally.
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Thank you.
It's a bottle that's been bought (by my predecessor) but the label says 0.015%. I haven't used it for anything yet.
 
Locker said:
Hi, I've been asked for methylene blue solution to stain cheek cells. Due to my becoming a technician during Covid, this is the first time I've been asked for this.
I have a stock bottle of methylene blue that says 0.015%. Do I need to dilute it for them to use as a stain, or should i just give it to them straight?
Thank you for your help!
Click to expand...
Actually it needs to be stronger

Recipe book says between 0.1-1%
 
For cheek cell staining we use about 0.5%w/v. Your solution might be a bit weak, but give it a try. If you have the solid you could make up some fresh.
 
It’s usually bought in as a 1% aqueous solution and I just use that straight. We don’t do cheek cells though, just skin cells.
 
We usually use one that is 0.5%, but anything between 0.1% and 1% will work. 1% is perhaps more suitable for plant cells? (I am saying this because we had to stain garlic root cells the other day, and they were too pale with the 0.1% solution). For animal cells, I think 0.5% should be fine. You can also use iodine to stain animal cells (we use 0.05 molar solutions).
 
Hello, I am having an issue with the methylene blue we use leaving the slides stained blue. Does anyone else have this problem or is it I need to make a fresh solution ?
 
It is very hard to clean... I have glass bottles in the prep room that used to contain methylene blue, and I hesitate to reuse them because they're blueish.

I am reading that adding a bit of bleach can help remove the dye.
 
nreynard said:
Hello, I am having an issue with the methylene blue we use leaving the slides stained blue. Does anyone else have this problem or is it I need to make a fresh solution ?
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The clear glass or the ground glass edge piece?
If it's on the ground glass not much to do I'm afraid

If it's staining the clear part then I'd suggest your solution is too concentrated by far
 
nreynard said:
Hello, I am having an issue with the methylene blue we use leaving the slides stained blue. Does anyone else have this problem or is it I need to make a fresh solution ?
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I soak the slides in a bleach solution if they have a blue hue to them after an initial rinse. Getting them soaking in water/washing up liquid asap after use prevents too much staining in the first place. I often have a large tub of slides soaking on the side until I have time to wash them properly.
 
Techno said:
Throw the slides away, it's too much effort to get them clean, not cost effective
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Agreed, sometimes you have to think, how much of my time is this going to take V how much is it to buy new?
I said this to a member of SLT the other day, he was searching for his books that he shares with 2 other teachers, It had taken him the best part of an hour.
When I suggested that we buy more books so each could have their own set, he said it would be too expensive.
I pointed out he gets paid more per hour than a set of the books would cost, multiply that by the number of times in the year he has same issue.
He saw my point.
 
The real pain is if they use too much, it gets over the cover slip ( or they forget the cover slip) and they jam it into the high magnification lens - broken slide is blah, but methylene blue on the microscope lens is not!
 
thar said:
The real pain is if they use too much, it gets over the cover slip ( or they forget the cover slip) and they jam it into the high magnification lens - broken slide is blah, but methylene blue on the microscope lens is not!
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this...blue literally everywhere

I've had a wee bit of success using a cotton bud to clean
 
I bought some lens cleaning wipes for that. Works really well. Give it a few passes and it all comes off.
 
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