Glassware Cleaning Glassware cleaning can be hazardous, observe necessary safety precautions when working with toxic or corrosive chemicals (eye-protection, lab coat, and nitrile gloves are a minimum). General cleaning

Rinse multiple times with water to remove soluble residue. Rinse with acetone if vessel has contained organic-soluble compounds. Wash with hot water and detergent, scrub with an abrasive if necessary (brush). Final rinse should be with deionized water

Acid and Base Bath NITRILE GLOVES ARE NOT SUFFICIENT FOR STRONG ACIDS OR BASES! Use non-disposable butyl gloves.

If glassware is contaminated with organic compounds, soak overnight in a BASE bath. (This will dissolve the outer layer of silica, leaving a negatively charged silicate layer. Not good for precision fitted glassware!)

This silicate layer is then dissolved by soaking in an ACID bath (6M HCl). Then rinse with lots of tap, and then DI water.

If the contamination is metallic, only the acid bath is necessary. Acid Bath Chemicals needed:

Concentrated HCl (6M) (37%) DI water Plastic tub (PE, PVC, or PP) with lid

For a 1 liter tub, mix 0.5L HCl into 0.5L water. Base Bath Chemicals needed:

Sodium or potassium hydroxide Isopropanol DI water Plastic tub (PE, PVC, or PP) with lid

For a 1 liter tub, add 40g of NaOH OR 57g of KOH to the plastic tub, already containing 0.8L isopropanol and 0.2L DI water. Procedure adapted from The University of Bristols physics departments glassware cleaning procedure: http://www.phy.bris.ac.uk/chemical/cleaning%20glassware.pdf