Article: Set the towel against the slip’s edge without disturbing the material under the cover slip. The absorptive paper towel will draw some of the water out from under the cover slip, and pull the staining agent under the cover slip and onto the specimen.  If your wet-mounted slide specimen is pale or colorless (e.g. a cross-section of a colorless plant stem), it may be difficult to see when looking through a microscope. Staining the specimen will allow you to better see its shape and texture. This is usually done after you have already examined the wet specimen in a slide without staining it. The slide may be already prepared, even if it is not stained. Use an eyedropper and drop the staining chemical on top of the microscope slide, directly next to the cover slip. Be careful to only dispense 1 drop. Excess staining agent may run off of the slide.  Iodine or methylene blue can be purchased at any education store or biology supply store. An alternate way of doing this is to add the drop of staining agent to the water on a wet-mounted slide when you first prepare it. In this case, you do not need a paper towel. The staining agent will begin to seep under the cover slip as the paper towel draws water out from the other side. It may take as long as 5 minutes for the iodine or methylene blue to soak completely under the slide cover and saturate the specimen. Once the iodine or methylene blue has drawn all the way under the slide cover, the specimen is fully dyed. Clean off the surface of the slide so that no loose liquids spills off the side. Your wet-mounted slide is now stained and ready to observe under a microscope.
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Place a paper towel sheet against one edge of the cover slip. Place 1 drop of iodine or methylene blue on the other side of the cover slip. Wait while the staining agent is drawn under the slide cover. Wipe up excess staining agent with a clean paper towel.