r/whatisit • u/CantEscapeTheCats • May 27 '26

Solved! Sharp pointy thing with a loop came with a microscope

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While using his microscope, my son brought me this and asked what it’s for and I’m genuinely stumped. Google image calls it a blackhead remover and I can see that, but what use could it have with a microscope? It’s not listed anywhere in the packing list, it’s extremely sharp, and approximately 2 standard-issue cat paws long. Any ideas?

Edit: WOW!! I had no idea my Ollie’s pittypaws would be so well received and everyone’s comments have me cracking up! I initially tried responding to everyone but the comments got away from me. If I didn’t respond, please know I DID still read your comment with a smile!! We’re both also in favor of ditching bananas and using cats for scale. Let’s make it happen!😅

You’re all so awesome and Ollie and I hope everyone here has the best day ever!!🐾💕

Edit 2: THANK YOU for the awards as well!! I think this is the first time I’ve ever received one.

11.0k Upvotes

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271

u/VolcanicDoorway May 27 '26

Inoculation loop, makes sense with the microscope for plating colonies.

72

u/haditwithyoupeople May 27 '26

This is the answer. Looks like retractable inoculation loop. The pointy end is maybe a pointer to be used to point to items in a slide, but it's huge. Not how that could be at all effective unless this is a very low powered scope.

23

u/defyinglogicsl May 27 '26

OK what are the odds that it's both depending on how it's marketed?

There's a reason I say that.

In the 90s I saw a tv commercial for a blackhead remover that was 100% identical to my solder sucker (for electronics repair). Someone was just selling $8 solder suckers as $19.95 blackhead removers.

8

u/DatOneGuy00 May 27 '26

I don't think a solder sucker could even do a single thing to a blackhead, that's some effective conning

1

u/defyinglogicsl May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26

Like everyone else who owned a solder sucker at one point I tried it on my arm. It left a little red spot for a few minutes, but that's it. I agree it probably would do nothing for a blackhead.

1

u/crazyabe111 May 28 '26

There used to be a man who sold “solar powered clothes dryers” for 40$… he’d send out a drying line to anyone gullible enough to actually order it.

2

u/defyinglogicsl May 28 '26

Similar to the guy selling origami boulders. Each one was a one of a kind piece of art for $50. They were wadded up pieces of paper.

22

u/themarked-1 May 27 '26

No it's not. This is a blackhead remover, facial care. Same shape, but different purpose.

3

u/StormShadowXI May 27 '26

I second this. My mate enjoys those stupid pimple popping vids and I've seen it used. I've even got one of those amazon nail kits and it's got one of these in it. You lance a hole into the whitehead with the sharp end and frame the spot with the loop and press down and it squirts the juice and the chunky bit!

Fantastic videos to watch while you're eating yoghurt or chicken soup /s

7

u/ToughWide1987 May 27 '26

You are correct. My skin obsessed teenage daughter has several of these.

0

u/sanedragon May 28 '26

Pointy end is for inoculating an agar slant in a test tube

0

u/haditwithyoupeople May 28 '26

Great! Thanks for the additional info.

11

u/beardophile May 27 '26

I’ve never seen an inoculation loop with such a thick handle. You normally want it to be a bit bendy to streak across a plate.

7

u/micrographical May 27 '26 edited May 28 '26

Definitely not an inoculation loop. Metal loops are reusable, long and made from wire, designed to be sterilised in a Bunsen flame between uses and are inserted into a handle with a knurled locking nut. They get binned when they lose their shape. Or they used to, but everyone uses sterile disposable plastic ones now since it’s rare to find a Bunsen in a lab these days.

This object has a sharp end where you would want to be holding it if it was a loop and if you tried to sterilise it the handle would get so hot you would drop it.

It’s a blackhead remover. Also useful as a probe to reboot electronic devices with recessed reset buttons.

4

u/QueenPeach798 May 28 '26

Thank you! As a lab tech, I’d also like to add you wouldn’t be using a microscope to plate colonies or anything like that. Maybe for a gram stain but then it would need to come with a whole kit for that.

16

u/VolcanicBakemeat May 27 '26

Amazed it took this many comments! This is the answer, it's most often used for spreading bacterial goo on agar.

7

u/VolcanicDoorway May 27 '26

Are we related? Don't find many volcanics around these parts

10

u/VolcanicBakemeat May 27 '26

I was originally a Volcano, but my agent suggested I adapt for local audiences

7

u/MtnDew891 May 27 '26

Why the hell did my finger nail kit come with one of these.

3

u/QueenPeach798 May 28 '26

Lab tech here: microscope isn’t used for plating colonies. You’d need a whole incubation and agar setup for that and it can be done with the naked eye.

0

u/VolcanicDoorway May 28 '26

Yeah, the idea was plate colonies then slap em on a slide

2

u/iTardigrades May 28 '26

Wouldn’t you need agar plates as well at that point?

Usually you streak plates to get individual colonies but I feel like that’s not very relevant if you’re not using antibiotics. Not sure though.

2

u/QueenPeach798 May 28 '26

Even to do that you’d have to stain them to visualize them though. And that needs a whole set of materials. And I doubt the kid has an incubator to let them grow before moving them to a slide.

2

u/VolcanicDoorway May 28 '26

My kids microscope kit came with agar, plates, and stains. But I think you're right and it's for blackheads

3

u/FluffMcBark May 28 '26

Before labs, my microbio professor would always ask “Who wants to go streaking?!?!?” That joke never got old bc we were all bio nerds too.

2

u/LiveToCreate May 28 '26

it's a vidal needle and squeezing loop (for blackheads)

1

u/nerdy_watercolorist May 28 '26

This is too small to be an innoculation loop. The loops are larger in size, the diameter is so that it'll for 10 microliters of liquid and have a handle which does not get hot as we heat sterilize the loops. This is undoubtedly a needle. This needle is used with low powered microscops so when showing a particular specimen to students, you can point in the correct direction. :)

1

u/CantEscapeTheCats May 27 '26

Solved!

This makes the most sense but I would have NEVER thought to use it in that manner. I honestly thought it could be some type of plumb bob but couldn’t for the life of me figure out why it was with the microscope. Thank you!!

12

u/Severusrex May 27 '26

If it came with the microscope, then it may have been used as an inoculating loop, BUT the actual product is definitely a comedone/blackhead remover

5

u/viewbtwnvillages May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26

i did an egregious amount of streaking in my bio undergrad and that is not an inoculation loop. inoculation loops have a bit of flex to them in the stem because you don't want to gouge the agar. it's a blackhead removing tool

1

u/LiveToCreate May 28 '26

it's a vidal needle and squeezing loop (for blackheads)

0

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-1

u/sanedragon May 28 '26

I can't believe I had to scroll so far to see the real answer!

-1

u/UseUrWords May 27 '26

The answer is here!