Histo-Clear, distilled essential oils (food grade) and Histo-Clear II, a mixture of aliphatic hydrocarbons and distilled essential oils, (food grade) are excellent non-toxic clearing agents replacing xylene. Histo-Clear is a Xylene substitute (a d-Limonene). The use of Histo-Clear in the laboratory means no longer having to breathe xylene when preparing histological sections. Distilled from oranges, carefully purified, and stabilized, Histo-Clear is one of the safest clearing agents available. Histo-Clear not only improves safety but also results. Histo-Clear leaves tissue less hard and brittle than xylene, facilitating the cutting of thin sections and prolonging microtome blade life. Nuclear morphology is rendered in fine detail. Histo-Clear enhances the clarity and vibrancy of acidophilic stains and improves staining of Harris' Hematoxylin with a brighter Eosin background. Histo-Clear can directly substitute for xylene and yields excellent results in automated tissue processing.
The Histo-Clear II is a newer version of Histo-Clear, with less smell from the original Histo-Clear. Please read below descriptions. Please note that users must use a compatible mounting media. Histo-Clear II, like its predecessor Histo-Clear, is a safer histological clearing agent that leads to the production of high-quality tissue slides. Histo-Clear II is nontoxic and completely biodegradable, thus reducing disposal costs. Histo-Clear II has a greatly reduced citrus odor compared to other citrus-based histological clearing agents. Note: Histo-Clear II is not compatible with many synthetic mounting media. Histo-Clear II is also a long-standing favorite in dry mounting procedures and aqueous mounting. Please confirm compatibility with your mounting media before using Histo-Clear II when wet-mounting with synthetic media.