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    Sterilizing Needle

    I've been called by Tlaloc (Aztec god of rain) and I'm going to give him an offering. I've been thinking about offering seven drops of blood to represent an ancient ritual in which the hearts of seven children would be removed for the god. I just need to know how to sterilize the needle.

    #2
    Re: Sterilizing Needle

    ...Soaking it in alcohol for five minutes should be fine provided it's clean. It won't necessarily be sterile. Alcohol works as a high level disinfectant when an item is soaked in it. If you really need sterile I'd suggest seeing about buying one that's been pre sterilized. Autoclaving or something similar is really the best way to sterilize something but those are ridiculously expensive. A local tattoo shop might have one but I doubt even they would let you use it to sterilize your needle.
    We are what we are. Nothing more, nothing less. There is good and evil among every kind of people. It's the evil among us who rule now. -Anne Bishop, Daughter of the Blood

    I wondered if he could ever understand that it was a blessing, not a sin, to be graced with more than one love.
    It could be complicated; of course it could be complicated. And it opened one up to the possibility of more pain and loss.
    Still, it was a blessing I would never relinquish. Love, genuine love, was always a cause for joy.
    -Jacqueline Carey, Naamah's Curse

    Service to your fellows is the root of peace.

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      #3
      Re: Sterilizing Needle

      Could always hold it in a flame for a bit too. Burn off all those little microscopic buggers.

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        #4
        Re: Sterilizing Needle

        Burning it should be ok. Or you could get one of those little things that diabetics use to prick their fingers, the needles that come with it are sterile and it pricks deep enough that you should be able to get the drops out. Here they're pretty cheap... also be sure bot just to use a clean needle, but also clean the skin.
        You remind me of the babe
        What babe?
        The babe with the power
        What power?
        The Power of voodoo
        Who do?
        You do!
        Do what?
        Remind me of the babe!

        Army of Darkness: Guardians of the Chat

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          #5
          Re: Sterilizing Needle

          Thank you. I've been thinking about using a combination of alcohol and burning to prevent the emergence of pathogens resistant to the alcohol.

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            #6
            Re: Sterilizing Needle

            alcohol should do it. I use lancets daily to draw droplets of blood for my blood glucose machine. I sometimes use the same lancet a few times for that day with no issues. It's not like you are slashing yourself to the tissue here. Blood droplets should be a fairly shallow prick. I don't even feel mine anymore.
            Satan is my spirit animal

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              #7
              Re: Sterilizing Needle

              I would not use fire. Charcoal and chemicals can build up on the metal. That's why they tend to blacken. I'm a certified sterilization technician. I do know what I'm talking about. Alcohol for 5-10 minutes will kill just about anything but prions (aka mad cow etc). It doesn't work just to wipe it with alcohol. It has to be wet for 5 minutes which means soaking it. But that will get rid of more than an open flame will.
              We are what we are. Nothing more, nothing less. There is good and evil among every kind of people. It's the evil among us who rule now. -Anne Bishop, Daughter of the Blood

              I wondered if he could ever understand that it was a blessing, not a sin, to be graced with more than one love.
              It could be complicated; of course it could be complicated. And it opened one up to the possibility of more pain and loss.
              Still, it was a blessing I would never relinquish. Love, genuine love, was always a cause for joy.
              -Jacqueline Carey, Naamah's Curse

              Service to your fellows is the root of peace.

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Sterilizing Needle

                You had to go right to the prions didn't you?


                zombies. It's about to go zombies.
                Satan is my spirit animal

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                  #9
                  Re: Sterilizing Needle

                  This has really given me a perspective of how I've changed. One year ago or even one month ago, I didn't think I would ever say "I'm going to offer my blood to an Aztec deity" as if it's a completely normal thing.

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                    #10
                    Re: Sterilizing Needle

                    I've never washed my ritual knife, and I cut little incisions on my fingers for blood. I wouldn't understand why a needle would be any different. If it worries you that much, use Peroxide on your cut afterwards. I don't usually use anything and I'm fine. But that's just me. I'll let you know when I lose a hand though.
                    "In the shade now tall forms are advancing,
                    And their wan hands like snowflakes in the moonlight are gleaming;
                    They beckon, they whisper, 'Oh! strong armed in valor,
                    The pale guests await thee - mead foams in Valhalla.'"
                    - Finn's Saga

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                      #11
                      Re: Sterilizing Needle

                      I'm with Shahaku on this. The only methods that are viable at home are alcohol soak (contact time is important) and dry heat (bake in the oven like you would jars for preserving), unless you have a pressure cooker in which case you can approximate a moist heat/pressure autoclav for very basic things like sewing needles.

                      Having said that, if you touch it with non sterile hands it's no longer sterile. If you put it down on the bench it's no longer sterile. If you don't wipe your skin with alcohol (with contact time) first then you'll pick up skin bacteria on the way through.

                      None of which is particularly an issue if you are healthy with good peropheral circulation and all you're doing is pricking your finger... if you're going to do that on a semi regular basis then invest in a diabetic lancet and some alcohol wipes.

                      Also, prick the SIDE of your finger rather than the end. You'll get better blood flow.

                      - - - Updated - - -

                      Also... when Shahaku and I say 'alcohol' we mean 70% isopropyll alcohol (aka rubbing alcohol). Vodka or whiskey wont cut it.

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                        #12
                        Re: Sterilizing Needle

                        Yesterday I got a lancing device, 91% isopropyl alcohol, and some cotton balls. However, I didn't get any actual lancets! I just assumed the device would have a reusable lancet. Heh.

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                          #13
                          Re: Sterilizing Needle

                          UPDATE: I finally got my lancets today. Although it took me a while to figure out how to get a good amount of blood, I was finally able to do the blood offering.

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                            #14
                            Re: Sterilizing Needle

                            Originally posted by Shahaku View Post
                            I would not use fire. Charcoal and chemicals can build up on the metal. That's why they tend to blacken. I'm a certified sterilization technician. I do know what I'm talking about. Alcohol for 5-10 minutes will kill just about anything but prions (aka mad cow etc). It doesn't work just to wipe it with alcohol. It has to be wet for 5 minutes which means soaking it. But that will get rid of more than an open flame will.
                            Is there anything that kills prions which won't create other problems or at least won't create problems that an alcohol soak after won't deal with?
                            life itself was a lightsaber in his hands; even in the face of treachery and death and hopes gone cold, he burned like a candle in the darkness. Like a star shining in the black eternity of space.

                            Yoda: Dark Rendezvous

                            "But those men who know anything at all about the Light also know that there is a fierceness to its power, like the bare sword of the law, or the white burning of the sun." Suddenly his voice sounded to Will very strong, and very Welsh. "At the very heart, that is. Other things, like humanity, and mercy, and charity, that most good men hold more precious than all else, they do not come first for the Light. Oh, sometimes they are there; often, indeed. But in the very long run the concern of you people is with the absolute good, ahead of all else..."

                            John Rowlands, The Grey King by Susan Cooper

                            "You come from the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve", said Aslan. "And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth; be content."

                            Aslan, Prince Caspian by CS Lewis


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                              #15
                              Re: Sterilizing Needle

                              Originally posted by MaskedOne View Post
                              Is there anything that kills prions which won't create other problems or at least won't create problems that an alcohol soak after won't deal with?

                              You don't kill them, so much as denature them. Prions are just proteins capable of mutating other proteins to take its shape. As for the *how*, not anything you can DIY easily:

                              Prions are highly resistant to disinfectants, heat, ultraviolet radiation, ionizing radiation and formalin. However, prions can be deactivated by heat, by chemicals and by a combination of heat, chemicals, pressure and time
                              Prions can be destroyed through incineration providing the incinerator can maintain a temperature of 900 F for four hours. In an autoclave, prions can be deactivated by using a temperature of 270 F at 21 psi for 90 minutes. If the infectious material is in a solution of sodium hydroxide, deactivation will occur after one hour at 250 F and 21 psi.
                              A commercial disinfectant called Environ LpH also has been shown to be effective at deactivating prions. Prion disinfection occurs with a 1 percent solution of LpH for 10 hours or with a 10 percent LpH solution for one hour.
                              Carcasses of infected animals can be deactivated into a sterile alkaline solution using an alkaline hydrolysis digester. This consists of an insulated steam-jacketed stainless steel vessel which operates at up to 70 psi and 300 F into which sodium hydroxide and water is added and heated and continuously circulated. This process degrades proteins into salts of free amino acids and the temperature and alkali concentrations deactivate prions by destroying their peptide bonds.
                              source
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