Hello,
I wonder what everyone is using for sealing hanging drop slides on VDX
plates? For the most part, we paraffin oil but I am unhappy with it because
it is too think and too frequently there is break in the oil and the drop
dries too much. I find vacuum grease to be not terribly practical because
it takes too much time - particularly when the well needs to be opened
(seeding, modifying well content, etc).
In ideal world I would like to find a much thicker oil that 1) contains as
little volatiles as paraffin oil, and 2) allows no more water vapor
diffusion through it than paraffin oil. Hampton suggests Cargille immersion
oils for this purpose but the MSDS for these oils states that they have
slight odor, so I am a bit concerned with unknown volatiles getting into
crystallization drop.
So, what do you like to use? Thanks much,
- Dima
