Gayle
The LOC that I used when developing the phenol free method for AFB was the
'Amway' brand of LOC - simply because that is what was being used at home
when I first had the idea to replace phenol with a different lipophilic
agent. But other LOC's also work. Others that we tried with success were
'Neutracon' from BDH/Merck and Liqui-Nox from Fisher.

For those who would like to give it a try our recipe is as follows:
Solution A: Basic fuchsin (CI 42500) - 1 gm; Absolute ethyl alcohol 10 ml.
Solution B:LOC High Suds (Amway) - 0.6 ml; Distilled water 100 ml.
For use mix the 2 solutions. The staining solution keeps well and can be
used for repeated staining. Staining is accomplished by pre heating the
solution to 60 degrees C in a coplin jar and staining for 15 mins.
Differentiation is accomplished by decolorising in 3% acid alcohol.

For those of you with access to the Internet the full method, with pictures
can be found at http://home.primus.com.au/royellis
Roy Ellis