The correct way to clean laboratory glassware

General procedure for all glassware

We must first prepare well in advance stirring rod, a spatula, funnels, flasks, beakers and other reusable equipment.

1. In order to remove organic residues on glassware, rinse the glassware briefly with an organic solvent (acetone or ethanol). Then discard the used rinsing fluid into organic waste.
2. Use warm tap water and soapy water to scrub the inside of curved glassware. And this waste water will flow into the sink.
3. Use deionized water to remove soap bubbles to avoid serious water stains.When poured into clean glassware, the deionized water rinse should form smooth flakes.If you do not see this effect covering, it will need more aggressive cleaning.In order to speed up the glass drying process, please rinse with acetone again to remove moisture.Residual acetone will enter the organic waste container.

Cleaning Burettes

1.Wash with soap and water,then Rinse well with tap water

2.Then rinse with desalinated water 3-4 times. When poured into a clean glass jar, the detergent should form a smooth powder. If you don’t see the effect of this concealer, you need more thorough cleansing.

3.Burette is, prior to use in the quantitative work such as scale removal, it must be thoroughly cleaned. The drying process to speed up, again rinsed with a small amount of acetone, to remove the moisture. Used acetone becomes an organic waste.

Cleaning Pipetts and Volumetric Flasks

1.Clean the Pipetts and Volumetric Flasks with soap and hot water

2.Rinse with tap water, then rinse with warm water 3 to 4 times. Rinsing should be a flat sheet when it is poured into a clean glassware. If this sheet does not work, more aggressive cleaning may be necessary.

3.Dry with acetone to remove water. The acetone resins are thrown into the container of organic waste. 

Additional tips:

1.Considering that water will affect the final solution, you can rinse with a solution that specifically removes water. Then, rinse three times with the solution you used to remove alcohol or acetone.

2.If not in use, remove the plug and cock. Otherwise, they may “freeze”.

3.You can remove grease by wiping the polished glass joints with a gold cloth soaked in hexane or acetone.Remember to do this in the hood vent, otherwise you may inhale chemicals.

4.It is recommended not to dry the glassware with paper towels or strong wind, otherwise this will introduce fibers or impurities. Usually, you can leave the glassware on the shelf, and air-drying is better. Otherwise, if you need to hand in glassware to the storage room, you can use the solvents mentioned above.