Parafilm - chemical storage

[Matt_Coffs]

Good afternoon everyone,

Does anyone use parafilm to seal the lids of chemical bottles?

If so which chemicals?

A little reading has suggested that parafilm is semi permeable, allowing some gasses to pass through but not moisture. And not suitable for organic solvents. Is it worth sealing moisture absorbing chemicals like NaOH?

Does anyone have experience with this?

[Pm706Narrogin]

We use parafilm on our solid iodine. Parafilm the stock bottle it's in, store that in a larger secondary container and parafilm that lid too.

Parafilm being semi-permeable to gases makes sense. The secondary container is still stained but the amount of gas escaping is low enough that parafilming the lid of that container has stopped the vapour escaping into the chem store and staining everything around it.

We also use it on our container of lead nitrate. Haven't tried it on any of our moisture absorbing chemicals so I'm interested to hear everyone else's responses

[Marama T]

I use parafilm on anything that is deliquescent or hygroscopic. Quick test for that - shake the container. If stuff doesn't flow freely, put parafilm on it. Start when the chemical first turns up - don't wait till you open it. Works well.

[bucketchem]

oooh this is a good idea!!