Is there any way I can use a magnetic stirrer or some other method so my western blot membrane gets uniform exposure to wash buffer and antibody solutions in the absence of a rocker or orbital shaker?
Not bad at all. Just make sure your membrane is always covered with liquid and give it a rock from time to time that the process is not completely dependent on diffusion. Alternatively, if you have a rolling mixer and and your membranes fit in 50ml tubes...
Not bad at all. Just make sure your membrane is always covered with liquid and give it a rock from time to time that the process is not completely dependent on diffusion. Alternatively, if you have a rolling mixer and and your membranes fit in 50ml tubes...
If you have access to a thermo sealer you can put the membrane in between plastic, seal all sides except one, pour in antibody solution, seal and put on a flat surface with a book on top as weight. The membrane will now float in the solution.
In addition to Hans Matsson: Small zip-lock bags (in Asia you'll get them everywhere for cheap) also work fine.
I always use the method Wolfgang suggested of 50mL tubes on a roller rocker- min you need is 5mL of blocking/incubating solution... helps save on reagents and Abs this way too :)
As Wolfgang and Stephanie suggested, I exclusively used 50 mL tubes and roll my blots. However, I carefully level the tubes and only use 3 mL of BSA/antibody solution to cover my blots. This is helpful in the case of needing to use expensive, precious antibody (e.g., when you are only give 50-100 µL in a tube)
Thank you all for your replies and suggestions. I really do appreciate it.
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