{"id":2826,"date":"2018-10-18T12:39:04","date_gmt":"2018-10-18T12:39:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/priorclavena.com\/?p=1170"},"modified":"2021-12-21T04:17:19","modified_gmt":"2021-12-21T04:17:19","slug":"autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/2018\/10\/18\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\/","title":{"rendered":"Autoclave Sterilization Tips: Abandon All Foil, Ye Who Pass This Way!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\">We need to talk about your autoclave sterilization rituals and aluminium foil.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Specifically: <strong><i>Do not use aluminium foil when sterilizing empty beakers and flasks!<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Loosely crimping foil over the mouths of empty flasks prior to autoclaving them is a widespread practice in many research labs.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Justifications for this practice vary.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Some claim it keeps water from condensing in the glassware, others cite the need to keep spores from drifting into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/autoclaves-glassware-sterilization\/\">glassware<\/a> once it&#8217;s sterilized.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Most will admit it&#8217;s just what they were taught to do.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Whatever the reasoning, it&#8217;s a bad idea.<\/p>\n<p>(Just to be clear: We don&#8217;t pretend to be experts in your process\u2014but we are experts in building reliable autoclaves. Your research protocol dictates the features of your autoclave. We back that with lifetime customer support, and our commitment to making sure you\u2019re able to get the most from your Priorclave every day.)<\/p>\n<h2>Autoclave Sterilization Demands\u00a0 Steam Penetration<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cPeople are religious about why they do use foil the way they do it,\u201d notes Philip Berriman, an instrumentation technician at California State University (Fullerton). \u201cPeople have a certain logic, but they don\u2019t necessarily do experiments to validate that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">As an example, Berriman points to one enormous variable introduced by the practice:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">&#8220;How loose is \u2018loose\u2019?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Oooh, you should see the differences [I&#8217;ve seen]!\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>These range from foil barely crimped enough to stay put to foil mashed down like a beer bottle cap.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Berriman has done his own series of tests, using one of Fullerton&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/autoclaves\/front-loading-autoclaves\/\">150L front-loading Priorclave research-grade autoclaves<\/a>.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Among his findings:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><em>Foil always decreases the effectiveness of a standard sterilization cycle\u2014<strong>and can even prevent sterilization altogether.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em> This is especially the case when <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">you use a gravity cycle with no vacuum stage.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Berriman found that\u00a0both standard beakers and Erlenmeyer flasks failed to sterilize fully when their mouths were covered in &#8220;loose&#8221; foil.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We need to talk about your autoclave sterilization rituals and aluminium foil. Specifically: Do not use aluminium foil when sterilizing empty beakers and flasks! Loosely crimping foil over the mouths [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":2837,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[359,360,361,355,362,63,314,74,23],"class_list":["post-2826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lab-autoclaves","tag-abandon-all-foil","tag-autoclave-sterilization","tag-autoclave-tips","tag-best-practices","tag-education","tag-high-efficiency-research-autoclave","tag-lab-autoclaves","tag-lab-practices","tag-research-grade-autoclave"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Autoclave Sterilization Tips: Abandon All Foil, Ye Who Pass This Way!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/2018\/10\/18\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Autoclave Sterilization Tips: Abandon All Foil, Ye Who Pass This Way!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We need to talk about your autoclave sterilization rituals and aluminium foil. Specifically: Do not use aluminium foil when sterilizing empty beakers and flasks! Loosely crimping foil over the mouths [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/2018\/10\/18\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Priorclave - United States\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-10-18T12:39:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-12-21T04:17:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/1600px-Autoclaved_sterile_Erlenmeyer_flasks.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Priorclave North America\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Priorclave North America\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/18\\\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/18\\\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Priorclave North America\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8b31c12dd95522a519b919985d6ce760\"},\"headline\":\"Autoclave Sterilization Tips: Abandon All Foil, Ye Who Pass This Way!\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-18T12:39:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-21T04:17:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/18\\\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":325,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/18\\\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/1600px-Autoclaved_sterile_Erlenmeyer_flasks.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"abandon all foil!\",\"autoclave sterilization\",\"autoclave tips\",\"best practices\",\"education\",\"high-efficiency research autoclave\",\"lab autoclaves\",\"lab practices\",\"research grade autoclave\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Lab Autoclaves\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/18\\\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/18\\\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\\\/\",\"name\":\"Autoclave Sterilization Tips: Abandon All Foil, Ye Who Pass This Way!\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/18\\\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/18\\\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/1600px-Autoclaved_sterile_Erlenmeyer_flasks.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-18T12:39:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-21T04:17:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8b31c12dd95522a519b919985d6ce760\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/18\\\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/18\\\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/18\\\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/1600px-Autoclaved_sterile_Erlenmeyer_flasks.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/1600px-Autoclaved_sterile_Erlenmeyer_flasks.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"You call that \\\"loose\\\" foil!?! (source)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/18\\\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Autoclave Sterilization Tips: Abandon All Foil, Ye Who Pass This Way!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/\",\"name\":\"Priorclave - United States\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8b31c12dd95522a519b919985d6ce760\",\"name\":\"Priorclave North America\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ddd164285c295da8fea40f7681fa8d17154184cce1ab962d04b0178d94f9e445?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ddd164285c295da8fea40f7681fa8d17154184cce1ab962d04b0178d94f9e445?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ddd164285c295da8fea40f7681fa8d17154184cce1ab962d04b0178d94f9e445?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Priorclave North America\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.priorclave.com\\\/en-us\\\/author\\\/dnelson\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Autoclave Sterilization Tips: Abandon All Foil, Ye Who Pass This Way!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/2018\/10\/18\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Autoclave Sterilization Tips: Abandon All Foil, Ye Who Pass This Way!","og_description":"We need to talk about your autoclave sterilization rituals and aluminium foil. Specifically: Do not use aluminium foil when sterilizing empty beakers and flasks! Loosely crimping foil over the mouths [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/2018\/10\/18\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\/","og_site_name":"Priorclave - United States","article_published_time":"2018-10-18T12:39:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-12-21T04:17:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":1200,"url":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/1600px-Autoclaved_sterile_Erlenmeyer_flasks.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Priorclave North America","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Priorclave North America","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/2018\/10\/18\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/2018\/10\/18\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\/"},"author":{"name":"Priorclave North America","@id":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/#\/schema\/person\/8b31c12dd95522a519b919985d6ce760"},"headline":"Autoclave Sterilization Tips: Abandon All Foil, Ye Who Pass This Way!","datePublished":"2018-10-18T12:39:04+00:00","dateModified":"2021-12-21T04:17:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/2018\/10\/18\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\/"},"wordCount":325,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/2018\/10\/18\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/1600px-Autoclaved_sterile_Erlenmeyer_flasks.jpg","keywords":["abandon all foil!","autoclave sterilization","autoclave tips","best practices","education","high-efficiency research autoclave","lab autoclaves","lab practices","research grade autoclave"],"articleSection":["Lab Autoclaves"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/2018\/10\/18\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\/","url":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/2018\/10\/18\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\/","name":"Autoclave Sterilization Tips: Abandon All Foil, Ye Who Pass This Way!","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/2018\/10\/18\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/2018\/10\/18\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/1600px-Autoclaved_sterile_Erlenmeyer_flasks.jpg","datePublished":"2018-10-18T12:39:04+00:00","dateModified":"2021-12-21T04:17:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/#\/schema\/person\/8b31c12dd95522a519b919985d6ce760"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/2018\/10\/18\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/2018\/10\/18\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/2018\/10\/18\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/1600px-Autoclaved_sterile_Erlenmeyer_flasks.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/1600px-Autoclaved_sterile_Erlenmeyer_flasks.jpg","width":1600,"height":1200,"caption":"You call that \"loose\" foil!?! (source)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/2018\/10\/18\/autoclave-sterilization-tips-avoid-foil\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Autoclave Sterilization Tips: Abandon All Foil, Ye Who Pass This Way!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/","name":"Priorclave - United States","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/#\/schema\/person\/8b31c12dd95522a519b919985d6ce760","name":"Priorclave North America","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ddd164285c295da8fea40f7681fa8d17154184cce1ab962d04b0178d94f9e445?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ddd164285c295da8fea40f7681fa8d17154184cce1ab962d04b0178d94f9e445?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ddd164285c295da8fea40f7681fa8d17154184cce1ab962d04b0178d94f9e445?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Priorclave North America"},"url":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/author\/dnelson\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.priorclave.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}