Paraffin wax is the foundation of histology. Its quality directly affects tissue preservation, sectioning performance, workflow efficiency, and diagnostic reliability.
Preserving Tissue Morphology
High-quality wax supports tissue structure and minimises shrinkage. Poor wax can distort tissue, leading to loss of important cellular detail.
Ensuring Reliable Infiltration
Good wax fully penetrates tissue, creating strong, uniform blocks. Inadequate infiltration causes soft cores, weak edges, and tissue drop-out.
Improving Section Quality at the Microtome
Many cutting issues start with the wax. The right wax improves ribboning, reduces chatter and compression, and produces cleaner sections.
Supporting Consistency and Workflow Efficiency
Consistent wax performance means predictable results. Premium wax reduces rework, recuts, and day-to-day variation in section quality.
Enabling Reliable Staining and Analysis
Quality wax removes cleanly during dewaxing and does not interfere with stains or IHC. This ensures even staining and reliable downstream results.
Reducing Hidden Costs
Low-quality wax increases waste, repeat work, and staff fatigue. Choosing the right wax saves time, reagents, and overall laboratory costs.
UltraPlast Wax Vs Standard Histology Wax
| Feature
|
Standard Histology Wax
|
Solmedia UltraPlast Wax
|
|---|---|---|
| Category | General paraffin embedding medium | Premium/advanced embedding medium |
| Formulation | Mostly refined paraffin, sometimes with polymers | Paraffin + PIB + controlled synthetic polymers |
| Tissue infiltration | Good for routine samples | Enhanced, especially for dense/large tissues, Good for routine samples |
| Section quality | Good sections | Often better elasticity & ribbon continuity |
| Shrinkage on cooling | Standard characteristics | Reduced shrinkage |
| Safety additives | Varies by supplier | DMSO-free |
| Performance | Suitable for typical histology | Designed for improved performance in challenging specimens |