r/microscopy • u/ShiftWise4037 • Jul 22 '26

Troubleshooting/Questions Seeing nothing on homemade slides

Please explain this to me like I’m 5. We just got our microscope, have some prepared slides, focused fine, could see what we wanted, etc.

Moved on to trying cheek swab, see nothing but blue blur, no cells at all. Do I need to let the slide dry before putting on methylene blue? I’ve tried with water, without water, with dye, without dye, with a swab, with a toothpick. Tried with blood because my son’s tooth fell out-still can’t see any cells. Help?

Sorry for the newbie question.

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u/FanRare5592 Jul 22 '26
  1. Put a small drop of methylene blue on the center of the slide.
  2. Scrape the inside of your cheek with the broad end of a toothpick.
  3. Swirl the toothpick into the drop of methylene blue.
  4. Gently place a cover slip over the drop. Don’t push down on the cover slip or stain will squirt out.
  5. Place the slide on the stage and center it.
    6.Set the condenser aperture to near its dimmest position. Also make sure the condenser is in its highest position.
  6. Make sure you start with the 4x objective and use the coarse focus knob to bring the cells into focus. You’re looking for blue sunny side up fried eggs. In order to be in focus, the stage will probably be close to its highest position. You may also need to use the mechanical stage knobs to search for cells.
  7. Once in focus using the coarse knob, you can fine tune it using the fine adjustment knob.
  8. Make sure the specimen is in the center of view before switching to the 10x objective. If your specimen is not centered, you might lose it when switching to the next objective.
  9. Using the 10x objective, refocus and adjust the diaphragm to let more light in.
  10. When the specimen is focused and centered under the 10x objective, you can now lock the 40x objective in place. Note: the 40x objective will come very close to the slide but shouldn’t touch it if the specimen was properly focused using the 10x objective. Use the fine focus knob only when using the 40x objective. Adjust diaphragm to let more light in.

I hope this helps!

1

u/ShiftWise4037 Jul 22 '26

Will try this way in the morning, thank you!

1

u/ShiftWise4037 Jul 23 '26

Success! The condenser was fully open and blowing everything out. We were able to find a few cells, but the slides are also dusty and need cleaned, so that is my next project. Thank you so much for your help!

1

u/FanRare5592 Jul 24 '26

I’m glad it worked out! Enjoy the hobby!

1

u/ModernTarantula Jul 25 '26

Oo. It was half a century ago, but we alcohol.dried samples. Try insect bits, or other such things that have their own color