An ultrasonic cleaner in your laboratory will save time and reduce effort while providing a safe solution for your cleaning needs. Let's take a look at some considerations you should keep in mind when using an ultrasonic cleaner on glassware, plasticware, and your lab instruments.
Whether you are cleaning beakers, bottles, vials, pipettes, or other labware, laboratory ultrasonic cleaners eliminate the time and effort of manual scrubbing. In fact, studies have shown that it can be up to 60 times faster while delivering thoroughly clean results. In addition, Ultrasonic Cleaning reaches into crevices and small openings that can not be cleaned manually. Cleanliness of laboratory vessels and instruments is critical, as any residue from a prior laboratory procedure may contaminate the next experiment, test, or process.
Always wash glassware immediately after use. If this is not possible, allow the glassware to soak. There is a possibility that if the glass is not cleaned immediately some residues will be impossible to remove. Never soak for long periods in alkaline solutions, as this will damage the glass. When using an ultrasonic cleaner, place the glassware in a basket so that the objects do not come in contact with the bottom of the tank, the vibrating ultrasonic membrane. After the ultrasonic labware cleaning stage is labware finished, rinse with distilled or deionized water rather than tap water. This will ensure that your items will dry completely and without spots. Finally, inspect the glassware to ensure that there are no cracks or chips, as this can affect future tests and samples.
Certain types of cleaning chemicals such as highly alkaline detergents can lead to clouding, crazing or stress cracking of plasticware, particularly polycarbonate. Long periods of exposure to strong oxidising agents are also known to cause plasticware to become brittle and prone to failure. For this reason, you should not use strong cleaning agents on plasticware. You should also never use abrasive cleaners or scouring pads which scratch the surface of plasticware. For ultrasonic cleaning lab plasticware, the same rules apply as glassware. Make sure to place the items in a basket to ensure they do not touch the ultrasonic membrane and rinse with distilled or deionized water after cleaning.
It should be noted that labware contaminated with biohazardous materials should be disposed of safely. In the event that it is to be cleaned, an autoclave should be employed.
Since many of your lab instruments are delicate, the key is to deliver fast, thorough results without causing damage. Ultrasonic lab equipment cleaning is the perfect solution since cavitation is very gentle while cleaning the entire surface. An ultrasonic cleaner is very effective for cleaning lab tools, microscopy parts, embedded samples, specimen mounts, etc. Like glassware and plasticware, they should be rinsed with deionized water so that they dry properly.
As you can see, the versatile capabilities of a laboratory ultrasonic cleaner make it the perfect solution for your lab. It is ideal for ultrasonic cleaning labware, both glass and plastic, and gentle enough to clean your delicate instruments. You can avoid the harshness of strong alkaline solutions that can damage glass and plastic as well as the scrubbing that can cause scratches. You will also reduce cleaning time, energy, as well as the risks involved with manual cleaning.