How to avoid crystal formation after fixation by formaldehyde - (Jul/24/2012 )

Ok, you will need to wash off the salts or seal the edges of the coverslip (usually done with clear nail-polish, Revlon make good stuff, don't go for the cheap ones, they don't have enough acrylic to seal well). If you use a mounting medium such as glycerol, this will slow the drying process too.

bob1 on Sat Nov 17 03:42:07 2012 said:

Ok thanks for the help. I will definitely try that. If I have to wash the cells, then should I just wash with ultrapure water? Thanks again for the help.

If they are fixed then a rinse in water should be OK, especially if you are using the slides immediately. If you need to keep the slides for a while then you need to use a mounting medium.

bob1 on Mon Nov 19 08:01:05 2012 said:

OK thanks, I will try that. Thanks a lot for your help and time.

bob1 on Mon Nov 19 08:01:05 2012 said:

When I am preparing p-formaldehyde solution, it turns clear onto its own at < 70 degrees. Do I still need to add NaOH?

No, it should be fine. The NaOH just speeds things up a bit.