Redissolving a Malinol Slide in Xylene

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If you don't have access to chemical lab, you need to take care not to breathe in the fumes of xylene. So you have to do most or all of the work outside, on a balcony or a terrace.
  1. Put the slide in a glass Petri dish, add just enough xylene that the slide is covered and close the dish. Keep the dish at a save place outside, where nobody has access.
  2. Wait until next day and check whether the cover slips are floating around. Depending on thickness and age of the sample, redissolving can take up to some days.
  3. If possible, place your binocular on the balcony or terrace. Otherwise close the door of your working room and open all windows.
  4. Open the Petri dish, quickly pick out the parts and transfer them to a watch glass containing 2-propanol and close the Petri dish again. Lift out the smaller parts with the flat inner side of Dumont forceps.
  5. Put the Petri dish back to it's save place and continue to work in 2-propanol.

Another problem with xylene is to get rid of it. You definitely can't pour it to the sink in your kitchen or bathroom. Instead you have to collect the scrap xylene in a properly closed glass flask. Use a separate funnel to pour the xylene to the flask, close it, and leave funnel and Petri dish at your save place outside until all xylene is evaporated. Deliver the filled flask to your local pharmacy.