It is important to use 99+% alcohol (isopropanol or ethanol) for the brief dehydration steps. Lower alcohol grades will not be viable substitutes. Slides should be rinsed in tap water (not buffer) prior to dehydration, as salts in buffers can precipitate if not removed. Depending on slide volume, alcohol baths should be changed out on a regular basis with fresh solution. It is suggested to drain excess water when transferring slides from tap water into the alcohol bath.

Usually the presence of air bubbles can be greatly reduced, and even eliminated, when using a manual approach, by carefully lowering the coverslip slowly over the specimen. Sometimes this may take a little practice to perfect.

No. It is recommended to dry slides at ambient room temperature.

There are no specific time limits for slides to be in the alcohol bath. Depending on the number of slides in a given assay, the last slide to be mounted will be in the alcohol bath longer than the first mounted slide. This may take several minutes or much longer. We have not seen any observable difference in specimen characteristics, staining or media performance with longer alcohol exposure times.

Place the slides in a glass staining rack or Coplin jar and completely submerge the slides in xylene overnight. After this time the coverslip should be easy to remove from the slide.

Yes. From our in-house testing, commonly used counterstains such as hematoxylin (e.g. Gill’s and Mayers formulations), nuclear fast red, methyl green and standard H&E (hematoxylin and eosin) stains are compatible with VectaMount Express Mounting Medium.