Haven't done this for a while, but what we used to do was mix Vaseline plus mineral oil (both purchased for cheap at the local drugstore), and then apply it using a 10 ml syringe with a pipet tip attached.
We used the mixture of Vaseline + mineral oil because Vaseline alone is too viscous (unless you want to develop Popeye forearms).
Heat a jar of Vaseline in a hot water bath (NOT OVER A FLAME--it's flammable!) until it melts. Mix in about 10-20% mineral oil by volume (you can play with this ratio until you find the viscosity you like); then draw the mixture up into syringes while still liquid. The procedure a little messy, so fill a lot of syringes at once and you're set for years.
Pat
On 18 Nov 2011, at 12:55 PM, Dima Klenchin wrote:
> 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
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