Staining the Gel
InstantBlue is an ultra fast working stain. However although protein bands will be visible after only a few minutes of incubation in InstantBlue, the staining process is typically fully completed after 1h incubation. Depending on the type of gel you are using longer incubation may be necessary. Further processing of the gel prior to completion of the staining process can result in protein destaining and reduced sensitivity. If this occurs simply restain the gel by incubating overnight in InstantBlue.

Washing the Gel
Prior to drying, unreacted stain must be removed from the gel. This is easily done by washing the gel in water. By using hot water the speed of this process can be significantly increased. Submersing a gel in 100 ml water, microwaving it for 1 minute at maximum power and incubating this solution for 1 hour typically removes most of the unreacted stain. Alternatively the gel can be kept overnight in ultrapure water at room temperature without loss of sensitivity.

Conditioning the Gel
To reduce the likelihood of cracks (when using gels other than RunBlue gels) and uneven drying submerse the gel in in a ‘gel drying solution’ (i.e. 4% glycerol, 20% ethanol in water) for maximum 5 minutes. Incubation of any Coomassie®-stained gel in an alcohol solution will eventually result in destaining of the bands so avoid incubation for longer than 5 minutes.