Guerrilla said:

BlueAndOrange said:

For the parafilm users, what are you doing to cut it? Are the dispensers any good? They seem super expensive and have no reviews, or the cheap ones have terrible reviews. I love parafilm, but I’d love it more if it were easier to cut a 1”x4” piece off the roll.

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This is the best way to cut your parafilm in order to avoid microtears. Other lengths/widths are highly prone to microtears in your film and thus a vector for contamination.
4 squares long and half a square wide allows you to wrap around the plate 3/4 times.

And this paper cutter is so convenient because I can cut hundreds of pieces of parafilm in such a short amount of time just by stacking sheets and cutting through multiple at once.

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BlueAndOrange said:

Paper gutter ordered. This is clearly the way. Thanks!

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OK, I did a test. Tried cutting roll with paper gutter cutter. Need to do it down near the hinge. If near the handle, will break or bend something.

I hacked away at the roll while slowly spinning it. Still wasn't enough to cut it. Then used serrated bread knife and sawed away where I'd sliced at it with the paper cutter. That finally got through.

I tried it with just the knife. Didn't work. For me, the paper cutter, then the knife, worked. Be careful with the knife, would be easy to slip and cut yourself.

Then I cleaned up the cut with scissors on one side.

Had trouble finding the start of the roll. Cut very lightly across it with scalpel. Still cut 2 or 3 layers. Then used the scalpel to find the edge. Ready to wrap plates.

Seems like a lot of work, but mostly was just figuring it out. Next time will be easier and quicker.


EDIT: I now see you are talking about Parafilm. Yes, paper cutter should be fine for strips of that. I use scissors, double it over and cut two pieces at once, then cut down the middle to make enough for 4 plates. But paper cutter might work better.

Parafilm can be inconsistent. Some times it's been in a hot warehouse and breaks easy. I'm basing this on reviews I've read.

But I haven't had that problem. The trick is to learn to stretch it. It has to be stretched to work and cling. Stretch it as you wrap it around. I also wrap 1 revolution of micropore tape on it to make sure it won't come up or fall off.

Some other guy said:

My first plate pins. Ape-R. Gonna move a couple to new plates this evening.

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nektar61 said:

Some other guy said:

My first plate pins. Ape-R. Gonna move a couple to new plates this evening.

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Nice plins!

Cut them off with scalpel, so you don't take any non-clone mycelium with it.

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Some other guy said:

nektar61 said:

Some other guy said:

My first plate pins. Ape-R. Gonna move a couple to new plates this evening.

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Nice plins!

Cut them off with scalpel, so you don't take any non-clone mycelium with it.

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I'm glad you said something, I was just going to pluck them with a sterile set of forceps.

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BleuMojeaux said:

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nektar61 said:

BleuMojeaux said:

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That looks very cool.

Might be harder to take a clone from that without getting some spores. I'd go from inside the stipe.

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LadysKnight said:

nektar61 said:

BleuMojeaux said:

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That looks very cool.

Might be harder to take a clone from that without getting some spores. I'd go from inside the stipe.

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Before you clone it, swab those spores with a sterile qtip and you have the elusive clean spores.

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nektar61 said:

LadysKnight said:

That looks very cool.

Might be harder to take a clone from that without getting some spores. I'd go from inside the stipe.

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Before you clone it, swab those spores with a sterile qtip and you have the elusive clean spores.

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Seamonkey84 said:

Couldn’t you just fruit them in a sealed jar with several filter disks?  Use sterilized CVG or just top fruit a thin layer of grains in a large jar.

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