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Author: Subject: Glassware cleaning routine
CycloRook
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[*] posted on 15-3-2022 at 04:43


I have a question. Can you use a dishwasher to clean glassware ?

I noticed that dish detergent is a great cleaner in general.

If I ran glassware through my dishwasher then took it out and ran the dishwasher empty several time to clean it would that present a health hazard ?

I think in general this is a bad idea
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Tsjerk
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[*] posted on 15-3-2022 at 07:40


Depends on what you use the glassware for. Mercury? Probably better not. Kitchen salt? Shouldn't be a problem.
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Rainwater
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[*] posted on 15-3-2022 at 08:03


If in dought, incineration will decompose most waste products, no heavy metals please. But most organics are substantially reduced.
I have a pressureized container bleeding into the air inlet of my forge burner.
12cfm air
6psi propane
150ml of byproducts from making dixoane
Can process about 2 liter per minute. Depending on how energetic the combustion is and now much water is present.

This was . Very flammable.
https://youtu.be/RqdhXs26fE8




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Fyndium
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[*] posted on 15-3-2022 at 08:08


This is a topic that has interested me for some time.

Are there any studies how much soluble OR insoluble mercury is left in a glass beaker after it has been thoroughly washed and cleaned and rinsed?

I would presume the amounts are extremely small, but detectable with sufficient equipment even after ordinary washing procedure, because glass is non-porous surface. Acid washing would likely be pretty exclusive.

I'm not paving a slope for using mercury laced pyrex for cooking after you've finished cooking, just out of interest. :)
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ManyInterests
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[*] posted on 1-7-2022 at 16:24


Quote:
This is a topic that has interested me for some time.

Are there any studies how much soluble OR insoluble mercury is left in a glass beaker after it has been thoroughly washed and cleaned and rinsed?

I would presume the amounts are extremely small, but detectable with sufficient equipment even after ordinary washing procedure, because glass is non-porous surface. Acid washing would likely be pretty exclusive.

I'm not paving a slope for using mercury laced pyrex for cooking after you've finished cooking, just out of interest.


One way of doing that is to never use the same things you use for chemistry for cooking. I have two glass baking dishes and I only use them for chemistry.
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Mateo_swe
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[*] posted on 15-7-2022 at 13:28


Never use chemistry glassware for cooking or something you eat or drink and never use cooking tings for chemistry unless they stay chemistry only after.
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[*] posted on 21-7-2025 at 03:25


I was going through some old posts and stumbled upon this, and felt obliged to throw in my 2c for those that may read this after me.
Quote: Originally posted by ManyInterests  
... Even if I make my nitric acid in the balcony and close the door (I have the power switch in side so I can switch it off as needed without opening the door) and never need to go outside to see if it done. ...

Personally I don't think it's wise to leave a nitric acid distillation totally unattended, and most certainly not until one has done it a number of times and gained experience, and then not for an extended period of time.

HNO3 is notoriously nasty stuff, and the more concentrated it is the more bad tempered it is towards just about everything. Those who are about to start should proceed slowly and with an abundance of caution.

At some stage most of us would have had an experience with HNO3/NO2 that made one's sphincter begin to quiver.

And just before that:
Quote: Originally posted by ManyInterests  
.. and I need to say this, while the fumes from the drain opener acid were tolerable, the ones from the pure acid were unbelievable!

H2SO4 is nitric acid's younger cousin. If sulphuric acid was "unbelievable" I shudder to imagine how nitric acid distillation went.
Hopefully nothing went awry but I would caution any starting out about being blasé, or thinking it simple, just because of some video.
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jackchem2001
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[*] posted on 21-7-2025 at 05:13


I think _ManyInterests_ means the fumes from the nitration were worse when using purified acid. H2SO4 has no odor

For fumes I think this post is relevant: https://www.sciencemadness.org/whisper/viewthread.php?tid=16...
Avoid relying on a respirator. Be aware of the limits of your setup
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teodor
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[*] posted on 31-7-2025 at 01:49


I am always frustrated about the amount of dirty glassware in my lab. I think I need some regular schedule, like cleaning everything after the last experiment before starting a new one. But practically I don't like this idea because it would delay getting the results and the time which I can spend for thinking about the results and planning new experiments will be lost (I usually do this thinking in parallel with my other live activities). So, I always have some pipeline of dirty glassware (for water/pumice, HCl, KOH+EtOH, chromic acid etc) and move it when I have a proper mood.

Do you have your own schedule of cleaning glassware which you are comfortably with? It would be interesting to read and recall your thoughts about that during the hours of glassware cleaning.
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[*] posted on 31-7-2025 at 03:13


I don't know who it was who recommended, if it was Louis Fieser or Gattermann, that one should always have at least half of the glassware clean and ready for use. It is a good advice that I haven't been able to follow so far.

The delay in getting results is almost unavoidable because sooner or later you will need to clean the dirty stuff. If you want to avoid it, you have to do one of three things: (1) stop doing experiments, (2) pay someone to clean the flasks, or (3) simply throw them away. I know you won't do (1) because I wouldn't do it; science is a harsh mistress but, honestly, we can't live without the nasty bitch. (2) may or may not work for you, it depends on who you can trust to do the job without breaking everything and if you're willing to afford that expense. (3) is out of question, obviously.

Reserve two hours per fortnight to clean glassware. Put on your lab coat and gloves, crank up your Tchaikovsky and do it. It will surely take less than two hours, just don't exceed the time limit.




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teodor
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[*] posted on 31-7-2025 at 04:27


Quote: Originally posted by bnull  

Reserve two hours per fortnight to clean glassware. Put on your lab coat and gloves, crank up your Tchaikovsky and do it. It will surely take less than two hours, just don't exceed the time limit.


30 mins SM podcasts instead of Tchaikovsky would be fine to listen. I like the classical music but I can listen to it during my work hours. So, any talks about chemistry as a streaming service for those who want to clean the glassware is requested :)
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[*] posted on 31-7-2025 at 06:21


SM podcasts?



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[*] posted on 31-7-2025 at 16:01


I recommend a dishwasher.
It does a good job for most of what I need, and it leaves it dry and sparkling.
While it is doing that, I can clean ground glass gear and plasticware.
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teodor
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[*] posted on 1-8-2025 at 00:12


Quote: Originally posted by bnull  
SM podcasts?


Why not. We can start making it.

Quote: Originally posted by j_sum1  
I recommend a dishwasher.
It does a good job for most of what I need, and it leaves it dry and sparkling.
While it is doing that, I can clean ground glass gear and plasticware.


It's interesting. I am not ready to try that. My next task is to put a sink and a dedicated desk along one wall as well as some water heater. Also a tank for distilled water. Now I do cleaning in another room because I don't have a sink in my laboratory. And I have no experience with plumbing yet, so need to study. I am envy how Adrian can build everything from scratch from some used matherials and the result is both functional and esthetical. If he would not send me the pictures of his build process I would not know what is possible to make by hands. So, will start with some carpentry and plumbing, the dishwasher is yet far on this road.
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[*] posted on 1-8-2025 at 04:16


Quote: Originally posted by teodor  
Quote: Originally posted by bnull  
SM podcasts?


Why not. We can start making it.

I thought there were SM podcasts.




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teodor
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[*] posted on 1-8-2025 at 04:25


Quote: Originally posted by bnull  
Quote: Originally posted by teodor  
Quote: Originally posted by bnull  
SM podcasts?


Why not. We can start making it.

I thought there were SM podcasts.


You just ahead of the time, like a true genius. Frankly, I don't see the reason why people will not want to listen to some talks of SM members regarding topics they want to talk about during the boring time of glassware washing routine. I believe there is only one thing which delays the appearance of the podcasts, it is the list of people who want to participate.
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[*] posted on 1-8-2025 at 04:40


Correction: I thought there were SM podcasts and I didn't know about them. I can be very absent-minded sometimes.



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[*] posted on 1-8-2025 at 05:46


Having worked in the chemical industry for going on 20 years I can tell you the accumulation of glassware should only happen transiently. There is plenty of downtime in chemistry, during filtrations, distillations, separations, refluxes, etc. A good chemist will use that time to plan or clean. It's the people that use that time to browse yahoo that you hope you never have to share a hood with.



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teodor
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[*] posted on 1-8-2025 at 06:53


Quote: Originally posted by BromicAcid  
Having worked in the chemical industry for going on 20 years I can tell you the accumulation of glassware should only happen transiently. There is plenty of downtime in chemistry, during filtrations, distillations, separations, refluxes, etc. A good chemist will use that time to plan or clean. It's the people that use that time to browse yahoo that you hope you never have to share a hood with.


Ha, I am not doing chemistry professionally, I am doing it either in my primary job process downtime or do it in my free time switching between chemistry and other house activities. Sometimes I have 10-30 mins to setup some process (e.g. reflux) and then I have to do something else (e.g. go to shop). But it is interesting to know how do you see it from the professional point of view.

When I was studying in the University (as a computer science student) I was also working as an administrator of a computer class. Every day I had a list of things to be done on several computers in the class. From that time I know how to run as much parallel tasks as possible planning the optimal sequence of operations in my head. And for chemical experiments I can use the same approach, running usually 3 experiments in parallel because of downtimes your mentioned. But what I have very rarely - a dedicated time like 8 hours to do only chemistry.

[Edited on 1-8-2025 by teodor]
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