Weird question...

[ffutures]

There's a biology experiment that involves coating a leaf with clear nail varnish, peeling off the varnish, and examining the imprint of the leaf under a microscope. We do it about ten times a year.

It seems that every time we do this we lose at least one bottle of varnish, and it's expensive stuff - the cheapest source in the area charges £2.50 a bottle. I've tried pound shops, eBay, etc. but clear varnish doesn't seem to come up for sale, except possibly as an occasional bottle in a random selection. Metallic purple yes, black yes, scarlet yes, but not clear.

Do any of the Brits reading this happen to have contacts who could sell me a few bottles cheap?

Comments

[akicif.livejournal.com]

You may be better experimenting with other clear varnishes with less immediate cosmetic applicability (do I take it that the little darlings are nicking the stuff?).

I think we used diluted shellac for this experiment back in the sixties.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

You take it correctly. Can you remember what you diluted the shellac with? We've got some, I think.

[dsample.livejournal.com]

Have you considered a psychological approach?

Dump the stuff into different bottles with plain "Leaf Varnish" labels, and tell the kids to be very careful not to get it on their skin. (No actual lies about what might happen, just a stongly worded "be careful.")

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

That's an interesting idea - and if we do make our own it probably won't be very nice anyway.

[akicif.livejournal.com]

Acetone or IPA (isopropyl, not Greene King / Deuchars, obviously) iirc.

Apropos of sticky-fingered students, did I ever tell you about the bother we had with silicone grease disappearing from first year labs? One person suggested adding ground glass, which would have been an obvious nono, and then capsaicin was suggested. Sadly, this made things worse. It wasn't until we warned the students (first year medics, vets and dentists mostly) that we'd added benzocaine that the filching stopped....

I do like the psychological method suggested above, but would suggest also adding something smelly just to be sure (or maybe even just open a hidden bottle of ammonium sulphide while doling out the varnish).

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Benzocaine?

[akicif.livejournal.com]

Strongish, longlasting local anaesthetic....