It is to be noted that cleaning laboratory glassware is not as simple as using just soap and water and cleaning them like as we do in cleaning the dishes at home. It is necessary to take into consideration that the chemical solution or laboratory experiment is not destroyed while cleaning. The first rule that is to be followed is to clean laboratory glassware by using detergents designed for lab glassware and not the regular dish washing detergent. In many cases, you don't need to use the detergent. You can simply rinse the glassware with the proper solvent, then rinse it up a number of times with distilled water, then the final rinses using deionized water. All glass
laboratory equipments need to be handled with great care.
Cleaning Common Lab Chemicals
- To clean water soluble solutions like as sucrose solutions or sodium chloride, rinse the glassware 3-4 times with deionized water and then keep it glassware.
- To clean glassware having water insoluble solutions like hexane or chloroform, rinse the apparatus 2-3 times with ethanol or acetone, then with deionized water 3-4 time, and then put it away.
- To clean strong acids and strong bases, carefully rinse the glassware under the fume hood, under running tap water. Then with deionized water, rinse a number of time and then put the glassware away.
- To clean glassware with weak acids and weak bases, rinse thoroughly with tap water to remove the base, then using deionized water, rinse a number of times before putting the glassware away.
Laboratory Glassware
How to clean special glass lab equipment ?
Organic Chemistry Glassware Laboratory Apparatus: Rinse the glassware using appropriate solvent like deionized water for water-soluble contents, ethanol for ethanol-soluble contents etc. This should be followed by rinses using deionized water. Scrub the glassware with a brush using hot soapy water, if required. Then run it thoroughly with tap water, followed by rinses with deionized water.
Burets: Wash with hot soapy water. With tap water, rinse thoroughly and then with deionized water.
Pipets and Volumetric Flasks:For cleaning them, you might have to soak the glassware overnight in soapy water. Then use warm soapy water and scrub with a brush. Using tap water, rinse it and do the final rinse using deionized water.
Drying Glassware
If laboratory glassware needs to be reused immediately for another experiment, then after the wash, rinse the apparatus with acetone. Acetone will remove any water and will evaporate quickly. But is is advisable not to dry glassware immediately using blow drier or vacuum to evaporate the solvent or by using a paper towel.
