Laboratory Consumables List: Items Every Lab Restocks

Consumables are the supplies a lab uses up or wears out and must replace. Some are single-use, like filter paper. Others are reusable but break or wear, like test tubes and rubber stoppers. This laboratory consumables list groups them by type and explains the variants, so you can build a restock order that keeps practicals running.

Consumables vs Equipment

A microscope or a balance is equipment. You buy it once and maintain it. Consumables are different. You plan for them every term, because they run out or break in normal use.

Splitting your budget this way helps. Equipment goes on a capital plan. Consumables go on a regular restock cycle, sized from what the lab actually used last term.

Single-Use Items on a Laboratory Consumables List

Filter paper: for gravity filtration. Order it by diameter and by grade, since grades differ in speed and in the size of particle they retain.
Litmus paper and universal pH paper: for quick acid and alkali tests. Keep them dry and sealed.
Lens cleaning paper: for microscope lenses. Ordinary tissue can scratch coatings.
Pipette tips: for piston pipettes. Match the tip to the pipette model and volume.
Gloves and other protective items: chosen with your safety officer for the chemicals in use.

The filter papers category lists filter paper, litmus paper, universal pH paper and lens cleaning paper.

Glass and Plastic Bottles

Bottles wear out, lose caps or get stained, so they belong on the restock list. Common types include:

Narrow-mouth reagent bottles for liquids.
Wide-mouth reagent bottles for solids.
Dropping bottles for indicators and stains.
Wash bottles, often in plastic, for rinsing.
Weighing bottles, with ground lids, for weighing dry solids.
Sample bottles, B.O.D. bottles and McCartney bottles for water testing and culture work.
Square bottles, which pack closely on a shelf.

Each glass bottle line should state capacity, mouth size, clear or amber glass, and cap or stopper type. See the glass bottle range for the types in the catalog.

Flasks and Beakers

These are reusable, but they break often enough to count as consumables in a teaching lab.

Volumetric flask: for making up solutions to an exact volume.
Reaction flask: round-bottom flasks, single-neck or multi-neck, for heating and reflux.
Conical (Erlenmeyer) flask: for titration and mixing.
Boiling or Florence flask: a boiling flask, often flat-bottomed, for general heating.
Beakers: low form for general use, tall form where splashing is a risk.

Keep a stock of the capacities used most. Our flasks category lists the shapes carried.

Burettes and Their Spare Parts

Burettes are central to titration, and stopcocks and tips are the parts that fail. ISO 385 is the international standard for burettes. The catalog lists these common types:

Burette with PTFE stopcock: needs no grease and resists seizing.
Burette with straight bore glass stopcock: needs light greasing and care.
Burette with Rotaflow or burette with screw type needle valve: gives fine control of flow.
Burette, automatic zero: fills from a reservoir and sets itself to zero, which saves time in repeat titrations.
Burette automatic zero mounted: the same idea, fixed on a reservoir bottle.
Burette pinch bead: uses a rubber tube and glass bead in place of a stopcock.
Schellbach stripe burette: has a coloured stripe that makes the meniscus easier to read.

Order spare stopcocks and tips with the burettes. The burette range shows each type.

Standard Joints, Stoppers and Tubing

Joints and stoppers wear, chip and go missing. Four joint types are common:

Conical joints: the usual ground-glass cone and socket, sized by two numbers such as 19/26.
Spherical joints: a ball and cup that allow a little movement.
Flange joints: used on larger vessels, held with a clamp.
Screw thread joints: threaded connections with a cap and seal.

Add joint clips, glass stoppers, rubber and silicone stoppers, and rubber or silicone tubing to the same order. The standard joints category and the cork and tubing range cover these.

Cleaning Consumables

Brushes wear out fast. Keep a set sized for each item: beaker, flask, test tube, burette and bottle brushes. A worn brush with exposed wire can scratch glass, and scratched glass is weaker under heat. See the laboratory brushes category.

How to Plan a Restock

A laboratory consumables list works best when it is tied to real use. These steps keep it accurate:

Record what you use and what breaks each term.
Set a minimum stock level for each line, and reorder when you reach it.
Store papers and plastics in a clean, dry place, away from direct light.
Inspect glass items before use and discard chipped or cracked pieces.
Group small items into one order to cut shipping and paperwork.

Ordering from This Laboratory Consumables List

For each line, give the item, size or capacity, material, and quantity. If a consumable you need is not in the catalog, list it anyway with its specification and ask whether it can be quoted.

Prices are quoted on request, by quantity, specification and delivery country. LabExports ships from India by sea or air freight, with export documents. Send your list, with any tender reference, through the quote request page.