Our second week of training week begins with a 10 o’clock start. Yes a 10 o’clock start (hurray), where microscopes were the main topic of conversation. The task for today was to do a thorough check and clean of all the microscopes in the science building.

With Dr. Bates help, we created a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the cleaning of microscopes. This involved writing down a set of rules and procedures for the cleaning of the different parts of the microscope. With additional guidance from the manufacturer’s websites and theirs SOPs, for all the different makes of microscopes we compiled a general SOP that could be used for all. Some of the main points of the SOP included the concentration of the solvents we would use for cleaning and the type of materials that would be used. These had to be carefully chosen so they did not damage the lenses or the mechanical stages on which microscopes slides are placed during viewing.

With a total of 50 microscopes to check, we best get a’cracking. The first part of the procedure was to have a quick look over to check for any damage to the microscope and to ensure the bulb was working. After this we then commenced with the cleaning. To do this we removed the eyepieces and the objective lenses. Following the guidelines of the SOP, we used 70% ethanol on a cotton swab to clean the objectives, being careful to clean in a circular motion from the centre of the lenses. The eyepieces were cleaned with lint-free tissues. To clean the mechanical stage, a solution of warm water and liquid detergent was used.

This was a very time-consuming task as you may have already guessed and with a relatively long lunch break it took us all the entire day. However, now all know how to strip and clean a microscope, which are useful skills to have when applying for a post-graduate job.