Fixation on Histology

Histology Tips & Tricks: Cleaning Your Microtome

  
Dirty Microtome

In a recent Histology Professionals Facebook post, a member posed this question to their group of peers, “What do you clean your microtomes with, y’all? Xylene? Oils? Don’t clean them?”

While we are lucky to have a very active community on our Facebook page, this particular posting garnered several comments. It was one of our most commented on posts recently. A few thread participants shared how they clean their microtomes in great detail, including how many minutes and at what temperature they heat removable parts in an oven. Many offered which products they have used or currently use and recommend (a few even included pictures), while others replied to their professional colleagues with advice on what they would not use and why.

It was such a lively and informative discussion that we tallied the “votes” to create the graph below so our readers, who may have missed the Facebook post, could benefit from the knowledge shared within our online community.

Please remember that there are more “votes” than total comments because several of our thread participants mentioned more than one product or method of cleaning their microtomes. Here is a snapshot:

Microtome Cleaning Methods Graph

Based on the volunteered responses, it seems that using gauze (or cloth or tissue paper) along with “elbow grease” was the clear winner. Paragard (or a similar paraffin cleaner) was second with a little more than half the “votes”; while Xylene came in third, with slightly fewer “votes” than Paragard. You can also take a look a what other products and methods your fellow histotechs are using to clean their microtomes and see if you might want to try another cleaning protocol to see how it stacks up to your “usual” routine.

Another repeatedly shared tip was that using cloth or gauze with a little bit of alcohol (100%) to wipe down your microtome after using another cleaner (e.g., Paragard, Xylene, Microtome oil, etc.) not only helps to wipe away any residue left by the cleaner or oil, but it seems to help cut the reported smells of other cleaning products too.

If you decide to try a different product or combination of products and methods based on other professional recommendations expressed in this thread, please let us know by starting a new thread on our Histology Professionals Facebook page.

We would love to hear how your professional community may have taught you something new or supplied you with a bit of knowledgeable advice that has affected how you tackle the task of cleaning your microtomes.

Written by Nancy Elmahdy, based on a question and subsequent comments posted in the Histology Professionals Group on Facebook.




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