Ann,
A friend of mine used to put the slide on crushed dry ice for 10 or 15 minutes, and then pop the coverslip off with forceps. She had a real knack for doing this, and didn't break the slide or compromise the tissue. I don't know if it would work for film coverslips either, but it was much quicker than soaking the slide in xylene for days.  If you have some slides that are not important that you could practice on and see if it works for you...
Joyce Kotzuk, Univ. of New Mexico pathology dept.

>>> ANN MARUSKA <amarusk1@FAIRVIEW.ORG> 03/10/00 12:29PM >>>
Dear Histonetters,
For those of you who do IHC stains and get slides that have been previously stained e.g. H&E, how do you get the coverslip film off the slides?  I know there is a quick method by placing the slides in acetone, but does this affect the antigenicity of those slides? 
Right now I soak them in Xylene, but it takes days to get the film unglued.  Glass coverslips come off rather quickly in xylene, it's just the film coverslip that takes forever.
Thanks for whatever info you can share.
Ann Maruska
Fairview-University Med Ctr
Mpls.  MN  55454
amarusk1@fairview.org