Is this an urban myth? I have no doubt that Richard-Allan's stains are good, in 
fact they are probably every bit as good as ours. I am half a world away and 
don't see Richard Allan as a competitor, but believe that the myth, that 
certain suppliers make stains is bordering on the fantastic. Stains are made by 
giant companies such as Hoechst, BASF, ICI, Dupont. Some are made by smaller 
dye manufacturers including some in third-world countries. Many dyes are made 
by one manufacturer only. Typically those dyes are purchased in hundreds of kg 
by wholesalers and most can be tested and certified by the Biological Staining 
Commission. Our business does not make stains and we don't test stains. You 
ought to be concerned about any supplier making such claims and question their 
veracity or indeed the quality of the supplied materials. Any supplier offering 
"certified" stains is offering effectively the same goods. The difference for 
the buyer is reliability delivery, price and good communication.
Criminal behaviour, such as selling uncertified stains as certified I believe 
is very, very rare.
Cheers
Jim Darley
ProSciTech                 Microscopy PLUS
PO Box 111, Thuringowa  QLD  4817  Australia
Ph +61 7 4774 0370  Fax:+61 7 4789 2313  service@proscitech.com
Great microscopy catalogue, 500 Links, MSDS, User Notes
                      www.proscitech.com

On Thursday, March 30, 2000 9:21 AM, MacDonald, Jennifer 
[SMTP:jmacdonald@sach.org] wrote:
> We also use Richard Allen stains and are very happy with them.  We also
> using the Bluing Reagent, Clarifier and the Clear-Rite 3.
>
> Jennifer MacDonald
>
> > ----------
> > From: 	Linda Jenkins[SMTP:jlinda@ces.clemson.edu]
> > Sent: 	Wednesday, March 29, 2000 8:23 AM
> > To: 	histonet@pathology.swmed.edu
> > Subject: 	Richard-Allan Stains
> >
> > 	Laurie Colbert  wondered, "Is Richard Allan a common denominator
> > with everyone who is having problems?????"
> > 	My thoughts on this - I have used Richard-Allan hematoxylin, eosin,
> > clarifier, bluing, and cytology stains practically since their arrival in
> > the marketplace (late '70's - mid-eighties?).  The ONLY consistent,
> > reliable procedure I've NEVER had to "tweak" in the last 20 years has been
> > my H &E stain - as it is beautiful!  In fact, in 1990, when I was first
> > introduced to the gentleman (Jerry Fredenburg) who was responsible for the
> > development of these wonderful chemicals I immediately hugged him and
> > said,
> > "Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!"  In fact, all of our area labs have
> > used
> > these stains with great results.
> > 	Now, in all fairness, I must add that I use real Xylenes for
> > clearing and graded ethanols for dehydration.  Have not been seen
> > consistent results with substitutes.
> > 	And, as a final note, I remember thinking that the original
> > question that started this query had a processing procedure that went
> > straight from formalin to 100%alcohol.  Isn't this a little odd?  Doesn't
> > everyone use graded alcohols?
> > 	Oh, well...I just didn't want techs, who've never used them, to get
> > the wrong impression about Richard-Allan stains.
> > 	Linda
> >
> >
> > *********************************
> > Linda Jenkins, HT
> > Clemson University
> > Department of Bioengineering
> > 864.656.5553
> > **********************************
> >