T-SHIRT OR WASHING BOTTLE: WHAT IS IT FOR, TYPES, USES - CHEMISTRY - 2024

The wash bottle or bottle is a special type of container or cylindrical container generally made of polyethylene. It is a flexible plastic bottle that can have different sizes ranging from 30 to 1000 milliliters in capacity. May contain a variety of solvents or reagents often used in chemistry and other science laboratories.

The tank acts as a container and a dispenser at the same time. Its most widespread or known use is the final washing or rinsing of various glass materials and instruments. It allows the liquid contained and protected from the environment to be dispensed through a tubular device, similar to a malleable and manageable straw.

This allows the direction of the liquid outlet jet to be adjusted at different angles. It can also be made of glass, although the most common is plastic and is known by the names of a washing flask or washing bottle.

It is a closed container that will contain a solvent that is generally distilled water, but it can be solvents of another chemical nature that are not corrosive or dissolve the plastic (like the ethyl alcohol in the image).

What is the wash bottle for?

It is used to clean plastic materials of different quality, including also the rinsing of instruments of delicate handling such as electrodes, and in the final capacity in the preparation of various solutions.

It is resistant and unbreakable. This is in internal contact with the solvent and from the lid of the container, which closes the bottle, an outlet hole protrudes that allows the flow of the liquid.

In this way, when the pressure rises, the liquid rises, thus allowing the tank to dispense small and moderate amounts of the contained liquid.

Types

According to the material

Based on the nature of the material with which they are manufactured, it can be said that there are polyethylene plastic shirts (the most common) and glass shirts.

There is also a special range of T-shirts made from a special type of Nalgene Teflon FEP plastic. Depending on the number or category of the manufacturer, they have different properties and uses. Those that are inert or non-reactive stand out, which are characterized by the null possibility of contaminating the content.

T-shirts made with this plastic are ideal for containing highly reactive solvents that can damage other types of plastic.

Another variety of this type of Nalgene Teflon containers can be sterilized in autoclaves. This makes them useful in microbiology laboratories or where the preparation of solutions under totally aseptic conditions is required.

Likewise, special shirts are manufactured that can be used with liquids with low or high temperature ranges. T-shirts have even been made of these polyethylene materials that provide high visibility to the container. Instead, others are manufactured specifically to contain and protect solvents that are sensitive to light.

Nalgene Teflon FEP also makes shirts that have a vertically grooved outer surface, for more secure hand contact or grip.

According to the type of solvent you store

Taking into account the type of solvent that it will contain, a classification is made that uses colors on the caps of the t-shirts or washing bottles. This classification quickly guides the user about its content.

For example, there are blue ones for distilled water; however, most laboratories use blanks for these purposes.

Isopropanol is added to yellow-top shirts. Green top shirts contain methanol. The official white is for ethanol or sodium hypochlorite and the red-capped ones are used to contain acetone.

Also, depending on the type of solvent, there are spiral bottles that can contain liquids with two phases, which facilitates the elimination of gas; such a situation occurs in the case of bromide and water solutions (bromine water).

In the lower image you can see several shirts with their corresponding colors, indicators of the liquid they store.

Applications

The piso has various applications in research laboratories, biodiagnosis or simply educational practices in the areas of chemistry and other sciences such as biology, microbiology and pharmacology, as can be specified below:

Rinse and clean

It is very useful to perform the last rinse with distilled or deionized water to a wide variety of containers or glassware, such as test tubes, beakers, volumetric flasks, among other laboratory materials.

Likewise, it is used for the final rinsing with demineralized water of the tips of automatic pipettes, of reaction plates and in general for a great variety of materials or glassware used in biodiagnosis and research.

Likewise, it is required to perform the cleaning, washing or rinsing of delicate equipment, such as the electrodes of a pH meter.

Helps in gauging and disinfects

The tank is very useful for gauging or bringing solutions to their final volume. This is because it allows small amounts of solvent to be carefully dispensed by compression at the operator's will.

It is known how important it is to prepare solutions with exact concentration. Therefore, obtaining a final volume or leveling just at the mark of the volumetric ball capacity is extremely important, which is facilitated with the use of the t-shirt.

The tank can generally contain distilled water, but it can be used to contain and dispense other solvents of a different nature, such as various types of alcohol and other organic solvents such as acetone.

It is ideal for rapid chemical washing and sanitizing procedures as it may contain detergents, ethanol, and sodium hypochlorite solutions.

Care and recommendations

-It is recommended that t-shirts containing solvents that create vapors under pressure, such as methanol or ethanol, have holes in the lid to release the vapors that are generated.

-The shirts must be strategically located within the quick reach of the laboratory worker or user in specific places. This facilitates the laboratory tasks for which they are required.

-It is advisable to place labels on them that clearly identify the type of solvent they are going to contain, especially when it is known that the solvent they contain is flammable or highly dangerous for the user.

-It is also important to perform the due maintenance or routine and scrupulous cleaning of these invaluable wash bottles.

References

1. Wikipedia. (2018). Wash bottle. Taken from: en.wikipedia.org
2. TP-Chemical Laboratory. (2018). T-shirt. Taken from: tplaboratorioquimico.com
3. Ganokpat. Azlon Wash bottle.. Taken from: commons.wikimedia.org
4. Analitical Chemistry. (1973). Nalgene® Wash Bottles. Reviewed from: pubs.acs.org
5. Fischer Scientific. (2018). Wash Bottles. Taken from: fishersci.com
6. Camlab. Wash Bottles. Taken from: camlab.co.uk