# Cross-contamination question **URL:** \ **Category:** Men's Pheromone Advice & Field Reports\ **Created:** [September 1, 2008, 11:18pm UTC](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/cross-contamination-question/18644 "2008-09-01T23:18:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![iamstretchypanda](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/pheromonetalk.com/iamstretchypanda/32/1228_2.png) [@iamstretchypanda](https://pheromonetalk.com/u/iamstretchypanda)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2008, 11:18pm UTC](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/cross-contamination-question/18644/1 "2008-09-01T23:18:19Z")
When mixing sprays by transferring pheros via pipette, how should i clean the pipettes to keep from cross contaminating. Should i even worry about this? Well the store recommended to use separate pipettes to avoid contamination so i figured i’d ask lol. ---
**Author:** ![Tama1981K](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/pheromonetalk.com/tama1981k/32/1685_2.png) [@Tama1981K](https://pheromonetalk.com/u/Tama1981K)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2008, 12:56am UTC](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/cross-contamination-question/18644/2 "2008-09-02T00:56:45Z")
Using different pipettes is the only thing I can come up with. In my expensive opinion cross contamination even on a micro scale is not worth risking 😃 reps to someone who comes up with a better plan and a way to make it work 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![tisha23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@tisha23](https://pheromonetalk.com/u/tisha23)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/cross-contamination-question/18644/3 "2008-09-02T00:59:42Z")
> [@](#): > > Well the store recommended to use separate pipettes to avoid contamination so i figured i’d ask lol. Sweety you just answered your own question. I use disposable pipettes and I only use them once. I never use the same pipette on a different bottle of mones. Tisha ---
**Author:** ![iamstretchypanda](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/pheromonetalk.com/iamstretchypanda/32/1228_2.png) [@iamstretchypanda](https://pheromonetalk.com/u/iamstretchypanda)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2008, 1:09am UTC](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/cross-contamination-question/18644/4 "2008-09-02T01:09:08Z")
Hmm. That’s probably a good idea. They should sell a pipette bundle. I believe i read that hydrogen peroxide will break down the [pheromones](https://a314.com/shop/). Would that be an effective way to clean them? I want to clean these out and label them so i don’t have to stock up on pipettes due to frequent mixing :]. Thanks for the ideas and tisha your post gave me the idea to label them. Kudos. ---
**Author:** ![mark-in-dallas](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/pheromonetalk.com/mark-in-dallas/32/860_2.png) [@mark-in-dallas](https://pheromonetalk.com/u/mark-in-dallas)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/cross-contamination-question/18644/5 "2008-09-02T02:43:43Z")
Hydrogen Peroxide will break down any residual molecules, but it’s possible that the residual Peroxide will contiminate a new mix too. You could clean them out with H.P., then wash the H.P. out with distilled water. But, I think your best bet is to get a bumnch of pipettes and label them for specific molecules, which is the route that I go. ---
**Author:** ![MarkL](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/pheromonetalk.com/markl/32/825_2.png) [@MarkL](https://pheromonetalk.com/u/MarkL)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2008, 3:28am UTC](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/cross-contamination-question/18644/6 "2008-09-02T03:28:30Z")
Okay … I don’t have an autoclave, but my dishwasher is NSA certified to kill bugs / critters (it has a ‘sanitize’ setting with a sustained rinse at 184 degrees F.) For “occasional use” I use glass pipettes with a rubber bulb or a plastic pipette. I use the “rinse” procedure below for either glass or plastic. After using a glass pipette, I rinse it and the bulb with tap water and wash it using the sanitize cycle (yes, along with any other dishes I might have.) I store the washed pipettes and bulbs in a glass beaker that’s got a dust cover. Just before using a pipette, I pour out one or two ml of clean reagent perfumer’s alcohol, and I use the alcohol inside and out to rinse off any trace contaminants … bacteria, detergent, etc. I typically rinse 3 or 4 times … and the “used” alcohol goes into a “slop bottle” – the perfumer’s alcohol that is used in an alcohol lamp, but not in perfume or phero-dilution. * * * For “frequent use” droppers, I keep a separate 2 oz brown glass bottle labeled with the molecule that comes with a pipette dropper cap. The pipette is safely stored inside the bottle, wet with alcohol (and phero) from each use. The bottle might always be empty, or the bottle might contain some of a dilution that I use frequently but am not worried if the dilution is exact. (For example, a bottle with a dilution of -none that equates to 1 mcg per spray … I don’t particularly care if the 1oz of -none in the bottle gets “bumped” by my using the dropper to measure some 10 mcg per spray -none and a tiny bit of residual 10mcg concentration is left on the pipette when I replace it. Close enough for gov’t purposes.) The bottles, with labels, keeps the pipettes from touching anything that might cause contamination, and keeps the pipettes organized. ---
**Author:** ![marty](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/pheromonetalk.com/marty/32/714_2.png) [@marty](https://pheromonetalk.com/u/marty)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2008, 2:50pm UTC](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/cross-contamination-question/18644/7 "2008-09-02T14:50:12Z")
Right now my system is to have labeled pipettes for each molecule, which are each stored in their own zipplock bag to avoid “contamination.” I’m not too much of a fan of making my own mixes though, so I mostly make small batches based on the recommendations of others or to try and replicate/modify/understand the workings of a particular MX.