My lab partner has been parafilming my pens closed and its time for revenge. If I parafilm her backpack to a lab bench will it hurt the bench?

No it wont hurt the bench or backpack.

If using this for sealing agar plates, do you cover the hole plate or just the gap between the plate and its cover?

Yes, you can take either the whole width or cut in half the width and cut about a length of circumference of the plate, then remove backing paper and hold the edge of parafilm at the gap area while stretching the rest of it as you go around it. Make sure you wear clean gloves and when you seal the plates make sure the width of the parafilm is on the bottom and top of lids as well so the gap is sealed. Over time it is super easy and quick and gives extra protection from cross contamination from outside. Also, parafilm let the plate slightly get the oxygen in/escape the gas, but you should be aware that long incubation periods might cause slight condensation inside if you wrap parafilm on the warm plates, so make sure all your plates are fully cooled down and dried on the surface before sealing to prevent that. Your plates will not slide around if you stack them on each other if using parafilm. When working with bacteriophages, I use parafilm after the plates are ready to turn upside down for incubation. This helps prevent any cross contamination as well. Also, when collecting lysates (with viruses) I incubate the buffer on the agar and use parafilm as well to prevent leaking when the plates are shaking for 2-3h, but make sure that you seal it very slowly to prevent spilling if you intend using it for this purpose as well. I use less buffers if on the agar plates for extracting lysates, this in general decreases chances of cross contamination and/or leaking. Hope it helps. You can consider getting petri dishes that have stacking edges, too, and they prevent overlapping of the gaps when stacked so when I use these, usually I don't waste my time on parafilm and just incubate in the stacks that are held by the label tape that I attach from top to bottom on 2 or 3 sides to hold altogether (example: dilution plates of 6 or 8 series, etc). I only use a tape&parafilm for plates that is kept in my container to prevent contamination.

Does this product melt like paraffin when you apply heat?

It's just a plastic film that sticks to itself better than your normal cling film wrap. It also stretches better. No it doesn't melt like "parafin wax". There is no wax on it. It might soften with much heat applied. It is more resistant to heat than your normal cling film wrap.

ASIN	B005KDF3X6
Are batteries included?	No
Best Sellers Rank	#18,396 in Industrial & Scientific ( See Top 100 in Industrial & Scientific ) #3 in Lab Films & Foils
Brand	Parafilm
Country of Origin	India
Customer Reviews	4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars (697)
Date First Available	9 June 2012
Item Weight	100 g
Item model number	PM992
Manufacturer	Parafilm
Model number	PM992
Number of Memory Sticks	1
Package Dimensions	16.31 x 13.21 x 5.69 cm; 100 g

M Roll, 250' Length x 2" Width

Description

Specifications

Common Questions