Surgical Cotton

[StuartB]

Hi,

I was wondering if there is any suppliers of surgical cotton out there that you dont have to buy in bulk?

I have looked all over and cant for the life of me find any. Ive tried all my chemists in town and they dont do it surprisingly.

Many thanks

Stuart

[Moonshane]

I have never found any. the average chemist looks at me like I'm insane and I'm used to it. I once went into a chemist asking for hypodermic needles which I was going to use to flush out the dissected abdomens of moths for identification. I ended up backing out of the chemist rather quickly as they quietly reached for the pepper spray.

[hunterknox]

There's an unusual range of medically stuff on ebay. Wouldn't use it for anything medically but for it might be worth a look if you need swabs for cleaning brake discs or syringes for bleedng hydraulics, that type of thing - you may get lucky with your cotton swabs.

[Capricorn]

Moonshane, I asked for the syringe part of a hyperdremic, much the same reaction. I wanted them for mixing small quantities of 2 part coating for fishing rods.

Another time I asked for IPA, that was just about as bad. One place did eventually give me a small bottle but it was only after I had quoted the chemical formula for it in the conversation and refered to alcohol as ethenol.

On the cotton side it seems that you might be able to get clothing but cannot see much for just cloth.

[glowjet]

Don`t Model shops do syringes and the like and if you have a shop that retails to the farming community, they sell them so that Farmers can do their own unkindly things to pigs/sheep and the like. I would have thought they were readily available through the Internet, but the surgical cotton in small quantities may be a problem

John.

[StuartB]

Yep i get the same frosty reception when asking for IPA and acetone from chemists. Its a good job i wasnt asking for hyper needles as well, they might of banned me . The cotton is for cleaning my corrective lense of my Mak Cass scope.

Im probably going to go to the doctors and ask if they can give me a bit of cotton. (last resort)

Anyone used the baader optical wonder fluid? Would that be ok for cleaning my corrective lense?

Thanks Stuart

[Moonshane]

I actually buy my chemicals online. you can get 100% IPA and Acetone pretty cheap for a litre.

[Mr Flibble]

Sorry to hear you've not had much luck at the pharmacies Stuart. As a pharmacist myself I'll put my serious hat on for a brief moment A pharmacy is a point of access for chemicals and medicines into the public domain which may be liable for misuse, pharmacists have a responsibility to ensure that any supplies made are appropriate and sound. Any requests for IPA, syringes, surgical spirit, and a whole lot of much more nasty stuff will set alarm bells ringing. Best thing to do is ask to speak directly to the pharmacist and once they hear the reason for the request is something sensible like cleaning optics, etc, they should offer to order it in for you if they haven't already got it in stock. If they don't, I would go and find a better pharmacy As for hospital grade cotton wool, there's simply no excuse for a pharmacy not ordering this in for you (unless there are supply issues from the wholesaler). It most probably won't be stocked on the shop floor but the key is to ask to speak to the pharmacist (or the dispensary staff) and they should order it in for you. Again, if a pharmacy doesn't offer to do this for you just go elsewhere. Or as Moonshane says just order it online! OK I've taken my hat off again now

[sologuitarist61]

I have never found any. the average chemist looks at me like I'm insane and I'm used to it. I once went into a chemist asking for hypodermic needles which I was going to use to flush out the dissected abdomens of moths for identification. I ended up backing out of the chemist rather quickly as they quietly reached for the pepper spray.

:grin:

[Herbig]

I had problms with this too, out of desperaton I bought loads of cotton from various sources but all contain small amounts of husk.

You can get 97% IPA from Maplins in 1 litre tins.

[StuartB]

Sorry to hear you've not had much luck at the pharmacies Stuart. As a pharmacist myself I'll put my serious hat on for a brief moment A pharmacy is a point of access for chemicals and medicines into the public domain which may be liable for misuse, pharmacists have a responsibility to ensure that any supplies made are appropriate and sound. Any requests for IPA, syringes, surgical spirit, and a whole lot of much more nasty stuff will set alarm bells ringing. Best thing to do is ask to speak directly to the pharmacist and once they hear the reason for the request is something sensible like cleaning optics, etc, they should offer to order it in for you if they haven't already got it in stock. If they don't, I would go and find a better pharmacy As for hospital grade cotton wool, there's simply no excuse for a pharmacy not ordering this in for you (unless there are supply issues from the wholesaler). It most probably won't be stocked on the shop floor but the key is to ask to speak to the pharmacist (or the dispensary staff) and they should order it in for you. Again, if a pharmacy doesn't offer to do this for you just go elsewhere. Or as Moonshane says just order it online! OK I've taken my hat off again now

Thanks alot for that, i will try again if all else fails :grin:

Stuart

[Wobbly Bob]

I have some of this cotton wool in the obsy, tomorrow I will zip down there and see what it is called. Done loads of mirrors with it with no problems.

[yeti monster]

I had no problem obtaining hypodermics from my local Boots, I explained that they were for re-filling my e-cigarette. All I had to do was initial the 'junky book' a rather sad reflection on life in a Northern town, having a 'junky book', but such is the state of the world I guess....

[pajr777]

Surgical spirit - tesco. IPA - maplins. Syringes - excluding the needle part - boots. Never been challenged or asked for any explanation - I guess I don't look like a junkie ;-)