Laboratory Magnets

[spavlis 15]

Does anyone designate storage shelves with laboratory magnets??

 

For example: Unprocessed, Processed, or Quarantine

 

Looking for a way to label and designate storage shelves with some flexibility.

 

Thanks

Stephanie

[mollyredone 318]

That's a great idea, but our shelves are stainless steel and magnets won't work.

[spavlis 15]

I knew there had to be some reason why magnets were not used.

[Dr. Pepper 910]

Our old Jewett refrig came with these mounting strips on the shelves in which you could insert a paper label "Unprocessed" etc. The strips were held on by an adhesive which gave up the ghost after a decade or so. Now I have labels from a Dymo label printer (they have very cool ones which work from your PC - my favorite lab toy) that I stick directly on the ends of the shelves. If you remove the shelf and let it warm up and/or wipe any moisture off and quickly apply your label they stick pretty well. Mine have been on for a couple of years and still are in good shape. The labels peel off pretty easily too.

Edited December 9, 2015 by Dr. Pepper

[Cliff 435]

We use Velcro shelf labels.  For the part that gets stuck to the fridge / freezer, we use Gorilla glue.

[AMcCord 1,274]

I've just been using white tape w/ the info neatly written onto it. When it peels or fades, I replace it. It will last several years. However, I like Cliff's velcro idea very much!

[spavlis 15]

I love the Velcro idea! Very clever Cliff

[AuntiS 78]

Never even thought of using Velcro!!!!

I, like Dr. Pepper, have a label maker.  I have labeled the crap out of everything!!!  I LOVE it!  (I'm sure the techs do too )

s

[TreeMoss 71]

Isn't it interesting how the simplest things can thrill us so much?  The Velcro idea is really something you can get stuck on!

[Auntie-D 363]

On 12/4/2015 at 5:09 PM, mollyredone said:

That's a great idea, but our shelves are stainless steel and magnets won't work.

You mean aluminium? Stainless steel is magnetic.

 

We use little sucker cups with a hook on to hang laminated signs (also great for putting lights around the window). Velcro isn't liked by the H&S bods...

[mollyredone 318]

The  composition of most stainless steel in the US has nickel in it which makes it non-magnetic, for a simplified version of the scientific american article.

[Dr. Pepper 910]

On 12/10/2015 at 8:53 AM, AuntiS said:

Never even thought of using Velcro!!!!

I, like Dr. Pepper, have a label maker.  I have labeled the crap out of everything!!!  I LOVE it!  (I'm sure the techs do too )

s

They drew the line at me making nametags for their foreheads.

[Mabel Adams 1,067]

We used magnets in the fridge for years where I used to work.  We used them for the crossmatched units for each day.  Instead of moving all of the blood to the 2 day shelf, we just moved the label each day.  I think after we got the new fridge we had to do something else because they wouldn't stick to the drawers.  I can't remember now 7+ years later what we did.

[Teristella 75]

Thanks, Cliff, for the Velcro idea! It took a few hours to get all the old labels off without alarming the poor fridge but I relabeled our shelves this week.