Sterilisation & DisinfectionThe methods, what each kills, and where each is used.BiologyMethod against what survives it.MethodKillsUsed forAutoclave, 121°CEverything, including sporesInstruments, media, wasteDry heat ovenEverything, slowerGlasswareFiltration 0.22 µmBacteria, not virusesHeat-sensitive liquidsUVSurface organismsCabinets, waterAlcohol 70%Most vegetative cellsSkin, surfacesBleachMost, including spores at strengthSurfaces, spills70% alcohol works better than 100%: some water is needed for it topenetrate the cell and denature proteins.Sterilisation & Disinfectionlearnposters.com
Sterilisation & Disinfection — printable life science wall chart from LearnPosters. Free vector PDF, US Letter and A4.

What’s on the Sterilisation & Disinfection poster

A 6-row table: Method · Kills · Used for.

Method against what survives it.

70% alcohol works better than 100%: some water is needed for it to penetrate the cell and denature proteins.

Questions about the Sterilisation & Disinfection poster

What’s on the Sterilisation & Disinfection poster?
A 6-row table: Method · Kills · Used for. Method against what survives it. Autoclave, 121°C — Everything, including spores — Instruments, media, waste; Dry heat oven — Everything, slower — Glassware; Filtration 0.22 µm — Bacteria, not viruses — Heat-sensitive liquids; UV — Surface organisms — Cabinets, water; Alcohol 70% — Most vegetative cells — Skin, surfaces; Bleach — Most, including spores at strength — Surfaces, spills. 70% alcohol works better than 100%: some water is needed for it to penetrate the cell and denature proteins.
Who is the Sterilisation & Disinfection poster for?
Sterilisation & Disinfection belongs to the Biology section rather than to a school year, because life science is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning microbiology can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
When should you use the Sterilisation & Disinfection poster?
Sterilisation kills everything including spores. Disinfection does not. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Sterilisation & Disinfection belongs on the wall where that life science work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
What other posters go with Sterilisation & Disinfection?
Antibiotic Resistance, How Antibiotics Work and Aseptic Technique sit alongside Sterilisation & Disinfection in the Biology section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Antibiotic ResistanceHow Antibiotics WorkAseptic Technique
Is the Sterilisation & Disinfection poster free to download and print?
Yes. Sterilisation & Disinfection downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Biology section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
What size does the Sterilisation & Disinfection poster print at?
Sterilisation & Disinfection is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Sterilisation & Disinfection loses nothing.Printing guide

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