Australia's Science Forum

We bought three kits from MTA. Thirty glasses, box and foam insert for storage in each kit. And would you believe - you can't even fit all the glasses in the box! Holes in foam insert are too small and by the time you get to the last two rows the glasses won't fit in. They never even tried them out, clearly. Have asked for a partial refund because we do need the glasses. Will keep you informed...

Oh no! I am looking at a set from Westlab but there are only 20 glasses supplied with the kit. I wonder if they are the same inserts?

I just had a look on the Westlab site and they are Gratnells kits and do look the same, though the slots for the glasses look bigger. Good luck with that! I'm going to track down a cabinet that goes on the wall to store the glasses - the kids won't bother putting the glasses in a fiddly foam insert anyway!

I feel the frustration Marama T. I fell for that trap too . Just impossible to fit 30 glasses into a Gratnels and 20 wasn't enough for a class .
I sent mine back.
In the end , I spent a few hours with a Stanley knife and a ruler making 5 sets. Once I had the template figured out , it was easy .

As we have quite the assortment of different size glasses , it was the only solution . Apart from that , we figured the foam wasn't going to last five minutes with our lot .

I bought the foam inserts, but not the Gratnells trays. I then put the inserts into old drawers we have and voila, glasses safe and it is very easy to spot the missing ones! There is a space at the end of the drawer to fit sanitiser, soap & paper towel.

Oooh bigmack, excellent! Thanks for the inspiration.

Marama T wrote: ↑25 Nov 2021, 10:23 I just had a look on the Westlab site and they are Gratnells kits and do look the same, though the slots for the glasses look bigger. Good luck with that! I'm going to track down a cabinet that goes on the wall to store the glasses - the kids won't bother putting the glasses in a fiddly foam insert anyway!

The Westlab foam inserts are for 20 safety glasses - https://www.westlab.com.au/gratnells-fo ... ty-glasses

Fits Shallow (F1) Trays & Deep (F2) Trays Only
Compartment Measurements: 40mm x 50mm
Dimensions: 60mm H x 275mm W x 427mm D

Hope this helps

We've made safety glasses a personal item for our older kids no more cleaning glasses after each use for us. Love it.

Our Chemistry students have their own but all other classes have glasses supplied - which has meant lots of cleaning for me during COVID. But even in the best of times, I would love for all students to have their own safety glasses and lab coats with just some spares here for those that forget (but not repeat offenders).

We have a big shoe or sock (or something), holder hanging on the end of the labcoat rack, but with covid I had to ensure they were glen 20'd after use, now they are back in the hanger. holds 20 so some are doubled up, and I have the tubs as well, like the cardboard idea too, I will try it out..

We got these a few years ago from Haines had them mounted on the wall. I glued strips of artificial suede on the inside. 30 spaces

Haven't had a problem.

Looks like westlab may have actually put thought into the design! Unlike the twits at MTA - they're gonna get them all sent back. And that box for the wall is exactly what I want.

In all fairness to MTA, I think that the Foam inserts are actually Gratnells cunning design .

It's just a shame they don't sell the Ken and Barbie Lab Glasses to fit them .

macca wrote: ↑30 Nov 2021, 11:01 We got these a few years ago from Haines had them mounted on the wall. I glued strips of artificial suede on the inside. 30 spaces

Haven't had a problem.

These are what we used to have at my previous school. They were on the side of the glassware cupboard. The artificial suede is a good idea though! Unfortunately I don't have anywhere to put one of these at my current school.

We have the timber ones, too. But with COVID cleaning, we have not been using them. Instead, glasses are in tubs that are getting cleaned after each use. Will return to the in-lab storage as soon as COVID cleaning is reduced.