A world renowned clearing agent from a name your trust.
Histology Grade Xylene is a world renowned clearing agent that is used for many different purposes in the field of Histology and Cytology, whether it is for tissue processing, coverslipping, or deparaffinizing. Produced from crude oil through a process called alkylation,
Histo-Grade Xylene is a clear, colorless, sweet-smelling liquid that consists of benzene and three aromatic hydrocarbon isomers: paraxylene, orthoxylene, and metaxylene.
Histology Grade Xylene is the most commonly used clearing agent in Histology. It is used prior to infiltrating tissue by the process of clearing. To infiltrate a piece of tissue with paraffin, water and alcohol must be removed. First, the tissue that was fixed with an aqueous fixative is slowly dehydrated by being placed through a series of
alcohols, starting at 50% to 70%, 80%, 95% and 100%. Once the tissue is dehydrated, it must be cleared from alcohol by using Histo-Grade Xylene. Once this is complete, the tissue can be infiltrated with paraffin.
Another way Histo-Grade Xylene can be used in a lab is to prepare slides for coverslipping. A stained slide cannot be coverslipped until the water is completely removed. Dehydrating the slide of water is done by placing the stained slide into alcohol. Once this step is complete, the stained slide is placed into Histology Grade Xylene, in which the alcohol is removed. After the completion of this step, the stained slide is ready to be coverslipped.
Histology Grade Xylene may also be used to deparaffinize paraffin-embedded tissue sections so they can be stained. To get rid of the paraffin, the slide is placed into Histo-Grade Xylene. Once the paraffin is removed, the slide needs to be slowly hydrated to an aqueous state in order to be stained. This is achieved by placing the slide through a series of alcohols, starting at 100% to 95%, 80%, 70%, 50%, and then water. Once completed, the deparaffinized slide is ready to be stained.
American MasterTech also offers a line of Xylene alternatives and replacements, such as Clearify. As powerful as Xylene,
Clearify looks and smells just like water and is low-hazard, biodegradable, non-flammable, non-sensitizing, non-carcinogenic, and non-corrosive.
Histology Grade Xylene is a world renowned clearing agent that is used for many different purposes in the field of Histology and Cytology, whether it is for tissue processing, coverslipping, or deparaffinizing. Produced from crude oil through a process called alkylation, 
