nimbus8
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How to wash store and dry glassware
Hey everyone i have a quick question, what do you wash glassware over. I cant do it over my sink, especially how does this apply if the glassware has
dangerous chemicals in it. Also how do you clean your gloves if you get chemicals on them?
Also how do you deal with spills, what should you use to absorb the solvent if its like chloroform or acetone?
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Manifest
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I wash it over my sink, just do it outside with your garden hose.
If it was Chloroform, I would rinse with Ethanol 2-3 times, then rinse with water.
Acetone wouldn't really be a problem, just rinse with water.
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Hexavalent
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We have two sinks downstairs, one in the kitchen for food use, and one in a sort of "utility room" with the washing machine, cleaning supplies, etc.
from which there is a door leading into my lab. The latter is a large porcelain one, with running hot and cold water, from which I wash most of my
glassware. Other than this, the only items washed here are paintbrushes, etc., so contamination is not an issue. Moreover, I do make every effort to
destroy/neutralize hazardous chemicals before I clean them, and then they get flushed down with a lot of water, or collected in hazardous waste
bottles if absolutely necessary.
If I am using large glassware, such as my 3 L Erlenmeyer, I'll usually wash outside using the garden hose, before bringing it inside for further
treatment when necessary. To dry glassware, I have a drying rack I constructed from a piece of coated wood and some dowels of various thicknesses. For
larger, or oddly-sized/shaped items, I usually leave them upside-down on an old hand towel to dry, using clamps as necessary to support them. I
usually wipe the exterior with a paper towel to remove moisture, but one should never do this on the inside, lest you introduce contaminating fibers
into the container.
Speaking of contamination, washing the glassware itself is also important: I generally use hot soapy tap water, followed by hot tap water, and then a
rinse of DI water. I'll use scrub brushes where necessary, and if something still persists, I'll go through these;
Boiling hot water
Acetone rinse
Hexanes rinse
Salt/acetone shaking
NaOH in EtOH
Aqua regia
Piranha solution
Thankfully, the furthest I've ever needed to go is the hydroxide/ethanol mixture, but it's advantageous to be aware of more powerful cleaning
solutions to use them when necessary.
Most of my glassware is kept on an old bookshelf, organized by type. The QF/ground glass stuff is kept in drawers, using bubble wrap as a liner, and
using pipe lagging around condensers and longer items/columns. I also have a large box of miscellaneous items, such as spares/replacements/excess
stock, uncommonly used items, etc., which is kept on top of my hood.
For small solvent spills, perhaps a few mL or so, I simply wipe them up with a paper towel. My main workbench is a kitchen worktop (melamine
formaldehyde top), so certain solvents will damage it quickly, meaning quick absorbance is necessary. For larger amounts, safety becomes a bigger
priority - I shut off any electrical devices I'm using, barricade the spill with cat litter (I always keep a large bucket of it and scoop on hand),
and then cover over it, working your way inwards. I then place this in a shallow tray, place it outside to evaporate the solvent away, and dispose of
the cat litter with normal household waste. The same generally applies for most spills, although if a solid residue is mixed with the cat litter, the
mixture may be tossed into the hazardous solids bin for collection.
If I get small amounts of chemicals on my gloves, I usually just wipe it on the bottom of my labcoat. For larger spills, I'll rinse the gloved hand
under water for a few seconds, dry it, and continue. For hazardous spills, however, such as concentrated acids or bases, I usually remove my gloves
and put new ones on: I'd rather spend a few pence on more gloves, than have chemical burns on my hands.
Mods: can be please merge this thread with one of the many other ones on this topic? ~Hexavalent
[Edited on 18-7-2013 by Hexavalent]
"Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." Winston Churchill
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sargent1015
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The simple answer, toss them and get new ones.
More case specific answer, if it's just water/salt solutions, wipe it onto a paper towel. If it's a strong acid/base (as Hexavalent said) change them
(quickly). For an in between case, rinse them and dry on paper towels.
In the end, gloves are cheap and your hands are much more valuable than a few cents for a pair.
When in doubt, throw them out!
[Edited on 18-7-2013 by sargent1015]
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Manifest
Script Kiddie Asshole
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On the topic of cleaning glassware, I decided one day that I would try to reduce Iron Oxide with Charcoal in a beaker...
I used charcoal to heat the outside aswell and long story short I ended up with carbon soot inside and on the outside of the beaker.
Any recommendations on how to remove this?
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Finnnicus
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You could get some ideas here?
Manifest, about the charcoal, weiming1998 says here, that conc boiling hypochlorite and vinegar 'softens' the carbon deposits, but I guess we're not really dealing with that here...
What about some good ol' elbow grease? 
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Fantasma4500
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Registered: 12-12-2012
Location: Dysrope (aka europe)
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i dont really see the whole problem about washing glassware..?
perhaps if you filled it with carbon that then solidified into graphite you would have some sort of a problem
what i do to wash glassware is remove chemicals
then add soap
abit of water
shake
rub it on the outside of tha glass
rinse soap off
dry with cloth
even if you dont use cloth to remove the water you will get CaCO3 stains which SOMETIMES can be problematic (lead, calcium barium etc. as in nitrates
makes solid carbonates, but will over time settle anyways)
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Texium
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Thread Moved
20-12-2023 at 12:42 |
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