Cleaning

General Cleaning

General lab cleaning is done by everyone on dates arranged by common agreement. Usually, once every 6 months or so, a Friday is selected and everyone gets assigned or chooses to clean one area in the lab–dissection area, benches, cold room, backroom, lunchroom, etc.

Dissection Bench & Sink

Some general Etiquette:

• • If you are the last one to use the counter, be sure to clean and wipe down the counter and tools. 

  • Do not keep the saline bottles out of the fridge for longer than necessary. Please refill them when they are close to empty and wipe down the bottles when they look dirty. 

  • Wipe up any saline you spill - salt builds up quickly! (on the counter and in the fridge) 

  • When leaving preps in the fridge, label them with your name and date. Do not leave partially dissected preps in the fridge for >1 day. 

  • Please also replace empty paper towel, glove, or kimwipe boxes; refill transfer pipets; replace old sandpaper, etc. 

**SUPER IMPORTANT** After the dissection, clean off the counter with Mr. Clean multipurpose cleaner, then warm tap water, and finally ethanol (wiping it down with paper towels in between steps). This prevents the accumulation of (hard to remove) organic material on the counter. 

• Everyone who uses the dissection bench and sink is responsible for cleaning up after themselves. To clean the bench please follow the SOP (standard operating procedure) below. Don't skip steps! Each step is important to remove different layers of stuff from the lab bench.

Dissection Bench/Sink Cleaning SOP:

• • Apply the multipurpose cleaner, scrub with a sponge, & wipe down.

  • Apply deionized/warm water liberally and wipe down.

  • Apply Ethanol (EtOH) and wipe down.

**To ensure the bench and sink stay clean there is a Bench Monitor. The responsibilities of the Bench Monitor are listed below, and there is also a sign above the dissection bench.**

Bench Monitor Duties:

• • Ensure that the dissection bench & sink is being cleaned daily by those doing dissections.

  • If not make sure to let people know & remind them to clean the bench/sink.

  • Make sure NO crab parts are going down/in the sink.

  • Wipe down the bench thoroughly once a week. See SOP below.

  • Change absorbent pads (under dissection dishes and under dissection tools) once a week.

Glass and Plastic Dishes

Everyone uses a variety of glass or plastic dishes for experiments, etc. Everyone usually cleans up after themselves, but any glassware, etc. left in the sink closest to the door by Eve's office ("General Cleaning Sink") will get cleaned by the undergraduates.

• The cleaning usually involves no soap or detergent–dishes will get rinsed out several times with hot water and deionized water, and then left to dry on the drying rack/counter. If the glassware is particularly dirty, it will get washed with Sparkleen 1 (for manual washing). When dry, the glassware will be returned to the cabinet. 

***Any dishes that have touched fixatives are cleaned out by the people using them. Dishes that have not touched fix are not to be cleaned in the Fix Sink, and dishes that have touched fix are to be cleaned only in this sink and no other.***