Autoclaving glass and plastic labware: what survives, what warps, what explodes
Care & Use · 5 min read · Vitreon technical desk
121 °C at 15 psi is gentle for borosilicate and violent for the wrong plastic. A materials-honest guide to the steam cycle.
01Glass: loosen everything
Borosilicate 3.3 shrugs off autoclave temperatures — the danger is trapped pressure. Loosen GL45 caps a full turn, remove stoppers from volumetric flasks, never autoclave a sealed vessel. A closed 1 L bottle at 121 °C is a pressure vessel you did not design.
02Plastics: know your resin
PP and PTFE autoclave safely at 121 °C. LDPE wash bottles and most HDPE deform — wash and chemically disinfect instead. Our PP ware is rated for 20+ cycles; the moulded QR code survives and remains scannable throughout.
03Volumetric ware caveat
Occasional autoclaving of Class A volumetric ware is acceptable; the cycle peaks below annealing-relevant temperatures. What kills calibration is the drying oven afterwards. Autoclave, then air-dry — never 'just quickly' oven-dry at 200 °C.