So I've read several different protocols that all suggest making "fresh" 80% ethanol for the wash steps because the 80% ethanol quickly absorbs water from the air, making it not-80% ethanol
My only question is whether it is really better to open your stock of 100% ethanol over and over every time you run a prep - wouldn't the 100% ethanol absorb water even more quickly, essentially causing the same problem? Do people buy smaller volumes of stock ethanol so the turnover rate is just faster?
I do believe this is a problem - I have noticed even with PCR cleanup kits that older bottles of wash buffer tend to wash most of my product away (grrr!) - but it doesn't make sense to me why opening the stock bottle more frequently would work better making lots of small, full aliquots in containers that are air/water vapor tight - am I missing something?
My only question is whether it is really better to open your stock of 100% ethanol over and over every time you run a prep - wouldn't the 100% ethanol absorb water even more quickly, essentially causing the same problem? Do people buy smaller volumes of stock ethanol so the turnover rate is just faster?
I do believe this is a problem - I have noticed even with PCR cleanup kits that older bottles of wash buffer tend to wash most of my product away (grrr!) - but it doesn't make sense to me why opening the stock bottle more frequently would work better making lots of small, full aliquots in containers that are air/water vapor tight - am I missing something?
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