March 28, 2024, 07:31:42 PM
Forum Rules: Read This Before Posting


Topic: Spatula cleaning  (Read 10681 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline poorstudent83

  • Regular Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 42
  • Mole Snacks: +0/-0
Spatula cleaning
« on: December 20, 2010, 05:54:10 PM »
Hi all....

Just wondering if anyone has any tips for cleaning metal spatula's??

Offline g-bones

  • Chemist
  • Full Member
  • *
  • Posts: 197
  • Mole Snacks: +22/-7
Re: Spatula cleaning
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2010, 06:55:35 PM »
If its a relatively well behaved solid you can just wipe it off with a kim wipe and that would be the end of it.  for those more sticky, hygroscopic solids, rinse with acetone then wipe with a kim wipe.  Hasn't failed me yet

Offline 408

  • Chemist
  • Full Member
  • *
  • Posts: 796
  • Mole Snacks: +103/-30
Re: Spatula cleaning
« Reply #2 on: December 20, 2010, 06:57:56 PM »
90% of the time I neer wash them, just wipe them with a towel.  The exception is after flame testing a compound, then there is junk stuck usually, so that gets 2M HCl overnight, then a rinse and paper towel.

Offline Mitch

  • General Chemist
  • Administrator
  • Sr. Member
  • *
  • Posts: 5298
  • Mole Snacks: +376/-3
  • Gender: Male
  • "I bring you peace." -Mr. Burns
    • Chemistry Blog
Re: Spatula cleaning
« Reply #3 on: December 21, 2010, 12:51:39 AM »
I like using 70% ethanol on a chem wipe, that way it gets sterilized as well.
Most Common Suggestions I Make on the Forums.
1. Start by writing a balanced chemical equation.
2. Don't confuse thermodynamic stability with chemical reactivity.
3. Forum Supports LaTex

Offline poorstudent83

  • Regular Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 42
  • Mole Snacks: +0/-0
Re: Spatula cleaning
« Reply #4 on: December 21, 2010, 05:49:15 PM »
Thanks for all the suggestions guys....these spatula's are, however, a bit old and weary! I'm trying to revive them! Maybe it's a lost cause!

Offline orgopete

  • Chemist
  • Sr. Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2636
  • Mole Snacks: +213/-71
    • Curved Arrow Press
Re: Spatula cleaning
« Reply #5 on: December 22, 2010, 11:05:08 AM »
If you are talking about the spatula that you used to weigh out aluminum chloride and forgot to clean immediately and now it is rusty and cruddy looking, then I use one of those green cleaning pads. It will restore the color, but it will also scratch the surface, so don't expect it to come back shinny. (You would have to buff them up again for that.)

I had all kinds of spatulas (and spoons, "borrowed from the cafeteria"). They were not all shiny, but they were all clean.
Author of a multi-tiered example based workbook for learning organic chemistry mechanisms.

Offline democanarchis

  • Regular Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 72
  • Mole Snacks: +9/-0
Re: Spatula cleaning
« Reply #6 on: December 22, 2010, 09:38:43 PM »
For really wrecked spatulas I put them in a beaker with about 20 mL of conc. sulfuric acid, and use a pipette with the tip snapped off to rinse them down. Come out dull, but can buff them back up with some steel wool

Offline ardbeg

  • Regular Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 82
  • Mole Snacks: +7/-3
Re: Spatula cleaning
« Reply #7 on: December 23, 2010, 06:49:39 PM »
why do people want shiny spatulae?

Offline 408

  • Chemist
  • Full Member
  • *
  • Posts: 796
  • Mole Snacks: +103/-30
Re: Spatula cleaning
« Reply #8 on: December 24, 2010, 12:32:43 AM »
Shiny is an end goal in itself in science.  Jeeze, read the manual.

Offline jeffmoonchop

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 334
  • Mole Snacks: +37/-5
  • Gender: Male
Re: Spatula cleaning
« Reply #9 on: August 23, 2019, 03:07:43 PM »
corner of labcoat

Offline OrganicDan96

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 268
  • Mole Snacks: +20/-1
Re: Spatula cleaning
« Reply #10 on: August 23, 2019, 04:48:15 PM »
rise with acetone, sometimes water then wipe with paper towel.

Sponsored Links