AmScope SK-6 Microscope Stains Vital Stain Kit - 7 Bottle Set, 6 Different Stains for Microscope Slides, Used on Living Cells Without Killing Them

This kit contains some of the best and safest biological stains available. Bismarck Brown, for example, is used for staining tissue (mucins stain yellow with this stain). Brilliant cresyl blue and Methelene Blue are both used to stain reticulocytes (immature red blood cells) so they can be counted --- the RNA in the reticulocytes stain a dark blue which makes them stand out from mature RB cells. What you get with this kit is a set of stains and a set of SDS sheets containing safety information regarding each stain. No instructions or technical materials are provided, and evidently for some that is a travesty. Once understood, however, the absence of instructions makes perfect sense. First of all, the cost of the kit covers the cost of the stains, no more, no less. And that cost is a bargain. That's why I purchased this kit. Obtaining these stains from a biological laboratory would have been much more expensive unless buying in large quantities, which would have been a waste for me. Second, though, and this is most important, the instructions needed on how to use these stains would require a large, expensive laboratory manual just for the basics. For the technical instructions needed to actually use the stains with specific organisms, tissues, etc., a library would be needed. Let me give an example: the most authoritative guide to the use of stains and dyes in Conn's Biological Stains. That book, last published in 2002, first came out in 1925. An up to date copy of the 9th edition costs $355.00, ten times the cost of this kit. In the introduction to Conn's are the words (not exactly in the form rendered here, but with this meaning) "This book does not provide technical instructions on how to use the stains or dyes, but does provide links to books from which such instructions may be obtained." In other words, if you want technical instruction on how to use these stains you may have to pay a little for that, separately from the cost of the kit. That's not a travesty. I just bought a grandson a leatherworking kit, and it had no instructions, just the materials; the seller assumed my grandson has a book on leatherworking, and that's true, I bought that for him earlier. Now, back to these stains, it isn't necessary to buy Conn's to find out how to use these stains. Just do an Internet search with the name of the stain and you will immediately have a wealth of information on how each is used. Some references even explain how the stain was used in the laboratory, i.e, if heat was or was not applied, how many washes should be performed after the stain is applied to remove excessive stain residue, etc. I'm very pleased with the stains in this kit, and use them with nematodes, mites, and various tissue specimens extracted from spider, insect, reptile, and mammal specimens.

Received pretty quick. Haven’t used yet but everything seems to be fine

This is an affordable assirtment of stains. It is a nicely packaged set, and easy to use. I teach general science (life, earth, physical), so I did not want to use my entire budget on a set of stains. MIcropscopy is not really a part of the curiculum, but I want my kids to have the experience.

A perfect set for classroom use or personal experimentation. All solutions come in an easy drop bottle and don't take but 1 or 0.5 drops per slide. They clearly permeate all types of cells and definitely do their jobs. I certainly recommend this to anyone! I'm definitely satisfied. (10/10)

good student set

These stains were very well made and easy to use. They allow all sorts of specimens to be stained and observed with different levels of contrast for comparison. Makes the almost invisible and sometime invisible components easily seen. Love them all

(This isn't the main part of the review, but I need to mention this first so the main part makes more sense: 5 of the 7 stains (2 are not actually stains, they're paralyzing agents to stop objects from swimming about) are concentrated to 10 times the amount needed for dry-film use (put a drop on the slide, wait for it to evaporate, then use it later when needed by putting a drop of water containing the specimen), and 100 to 1000 times the concentration needed for direct use (putting a drop of stain on the specimen), so you need to buy additional containers to dilute the stain with distilled water.) The packaging is different than the picture - they are opaque white bottles, not clear ones (this might actually be a good thing so light can't affect it), but they are regular bottles with an a dropper attachment stuck into the opening. This is not airtight or watertight, so when you tilt the bottle to put a drop in water, if you don't quickly turn it almost completely upside-down, wait for one drop to fall, and then immediately turn it back, the concentrated stain will start dribbling out of the top dropper part, and possibly from the base of the dropper adapter (the opening of the main bottle). If you're lucky, this will only get on the bottle's label and your hands, and you'll just have blue fingers for a day.

Good general purpose kit for quick lab or field use.

Da principiante di microscopia li ho trovati perfetti

Good stains but should come with more instructions.

My package arrived in a timely fashion and well packaged for which I'm very happy. What people might not realize is that the stains come to you in a concentrated solution (even at 1%). The stains have to be diluted to a ratio of 1 in 10 for the "smear" technique and 1 in 100 for direct live staining. When you consider that you only need about 2 drops of diluted stain per slide for "smear" staining... that means you are getting a lot of stain for the dollar. It is only by sheer luck I found this out because it is only written in fine print at the bottom of one page. Happy Microscoping!

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