Test tube racks - Wood or aluminium?

[LabTechBrooke]

I want to replace our old test tube racks, and was considering replacing them with metal ones like this.

I hate how the wooden ones absorb chemicals, can't be easily washed, and students write on them. I haven't used the metal ones, but I would love to know what people think of them.

[Mostly_microbes]

We have one lab with the metal racks the same as the picture you've attached, and the rest with wooden or plastic ones.
Teachers and students are constantly raiding that one lab to get the "good" metal racks. They can go through the dishwasher, into waterbaths, and tape residue comes off easily enough, to name a few advantages.
As soon as I have some extra money in the budget (haha), I will replace all of the wooden and plastic racks with the metal ones.

[Marama T]

I recycled all the stupid melted plastic test tube racks and got TAS to make wooden ones. They cost $4 each, about 10% of what you'd pay otherwise. Students are asked to label the test tubes, not the rack. Also, why use tape for labelling? With hot soapy water and a nylon pad, permanent marker comes straight off metal, plastic and glass. Or save time and give the class a spray bottle of metho with a cloth and they can wash their own labelling off. Paper or tape labels totally suck.

[bigmack]

What she said 100%

incidentally , I believe those metal racks would be Stainless steel .Aluminum doesn't last very long in a dish washer

[RosalieL]

I got annoyed by the metal ones. I prefer the wooden ones. For most pracs now we use micro test tubes and plastic racks from wiltronics. I have a basket that fits in the dishwasher that i leave on its side and add the test tubes to on their side, and once the test tubes fill the basket I put a gauze mat in the top (it fits perfectly!) and that holds the test tubes in so they don't flip upside down while washing. We save so much chemical waste this way. It is mostly only things that need heating over a bunsen or that need to collect gas with stoppers that go in the big tubes now.