Dear Freida,

	The first thing I was taught about disposable blades was that they must be
cleaned before use.  Cleaning is not an elaborate procedure, a simple dip
in a 100 ml specimen container of absolute ethanol, & a careful wipe with
an ordinary facial tissue.  In the last lab I ran I used Sturkey polymer
coated low profile blades, they come with an instruction to rinse in
ethanol before use.

	Why? in every case a cleaned blade will cut thinner, smoother, cleaner
sections than one that has been used without cleaning. 

	The only exception to this rule is the blades I used in my cryostat, there
I used Sturkey gold coated high profile blades straight from the box.  They
cut beautifully from ~3 - 60 um everthing from gels to bone & sections of
entire mice.

	Hope this helps.

	Regards

	Rob W.

At 12:57 PM 4/6/99 -0400, you wrote:
>I am very curious as to how many of you clean your disposable blades before 
>use.  If you do clean, what do you use?


R. Wadley, B.App.Sc, M.L.S
Laboratory Manager
Cellular Analysis Facility
School of Microbiology & Immunology
UNSW, New South Wales, Australia, 2052
Ph (BH) 	+61 (2) 9385 3517
Ph (AH)	+61 (2) 9555 1239
Fax 	+61 (2) 9385 1591
E-mail	r.wadley@unsw.edu.au
www	http://www.unsw.edu.au/clients/microbiology/CAF.html
	(Under development)