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Hygiene Kit

Most failed grows come down to contamination, not weak spores. The point where bacteria and stray mould usually get in is inoculation, when you push a needle through a port into your substrate.

This kit gives you the disposable hygiene items for that one job: a face mask, gloves, 70% alcohol wipes for surfaces and the port, hand wipes, and sterile needles. Use them once, then bin them.

A small set of single-use hygiene items for working clean during inoculation. It covers your hands, your face, your work surface and the injection port, so fewer bacteria and mould spores reach your culture.

£5.00

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Alcohol strength: 70% isopropyl

Use: One inoculation session per set

Covers: Hands, face, surface, port, needle

Reuse: None, single use

A clean-working kit for inoculation

This is a set of single-use hygiene consumables, not a tool or a piece of equipment. Each item does one part of working clean while you inoculate a substrate.

The face mask stops droplets from your breath landing on your work and your culture. The gloves go on after your hands are clean, so you are not transferring oils, skin bacteria or whatever you last touched. The 70% alcohol wipes disinfect your work surface and the rubber injection port. The hand wipes clean your hands before gloving up. The sterile needles give you a fresh, unopened needle for each syringe.

70% alcohol is used on purpose, not as a weaker version of 99%. The water in it slows evaporation, so the alcohol stays in contact with the surface long enough to disinfect, and it helps break down the proteins in bacteria. Near-pure alcohol flashes off too fast to do the same job. This is why health bodies recommend 60% to 90% for disinfecting, with 70% a good working strength.

Using the kit during inoculation

Work in a still air box or a clean, draught-free spot. Have everything to hand before you start so you are not reaching around mid-job. If your syringe holds spores in suspension, shake it so the contents are mixed before you draw or inject.

1 Clean your hands

Wash with warm water and soap first if you can, then wipe your hands with a hand wipe. Let them dry.

2 Put on the mask and gloves

Fit the face mask over your nose and mouth. Then put on the gloves, touching the outside of them as little as you can.

3 Wipe the surface and port

Wipe down your work surface with an alcohol wipe. Wipe the rubber injection port with another and give it a few seconds to dry before the needle goes in.

4 Fit a fresh needle

Take a sterile needle from its sealed packet without touching the tip, fit it to your syringe, and keep the cap on until the moment you inject. Use a new needle for each syringe.

5 Inject and bin the lot

Inject through the port, withdraw the needle straight out, and seal. When you are done, dispose of the gloves, mask, wipes and needle. None of it is reused.

What it does and does not do

Alcohol disinfects, it does not sterilise. It cuts down what is on a surface, but it does not kill bacterial spores and it does not give you a sterile field. This kit is one layer of a wider clean-working approach, alongside pressure sterilising your substrate, working in still air, and not breathing over your jars.

It is also not a substitute for a flame source. Many growers flame a metal scalpel or a reused needle until it glows red, then let it cool. The sterile needles here are for fitting straight to spore or culture syringes, where you want a fresh sealed needle rather than a flamed one.

Type	Single-use hygiene consumables
Contents	Face mask, gloves, 70% alcohol wipes, hand wipes, sterile needles
Alcohol	70% isopropyl, a standard strength for disinfecting
Needles	Sterile, sealed, fit a standard luer syringe
Use	Inoculation and general clean working
Reuse	None, dispose after each session

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