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Are you setting up or renovating your biology lab furniture? 

Whether it’s for a school, college, research facility, or industry, your lab will require customized furniture solutions. 

Unsure about what furniture you need? This guide will clarify your biology lab furniture requirements. Read along.

Why do Biology Labs need Specific Furniture?

Biology labs, regardless of the institution, handle sensitive samples such as DNA, microorganisms, and live specimens used for identification in schools. 

The furniture in these labs must be specifically designed to cater to these needs. 

Typically, wet labs require specialized furniture to manage reagents and other liquid materials, while dry labs utilize more conventional furniture suited for computer work and meetings.

Biology Lab Furniture Requirements

The best lab furniture worktop is decided by the specific requirements of your biology lab. The usual concerns that you might face when trying to choose a worktop are:

Chemical Resistance

Biology lab worktops are exposed to acids, alkalis and harsh reagents. They need to be cleaned thoroughly with 70% ethanol and peroxides to ensure cleanliness and avoid microbial contamination of samples. Does your worktop brave these dangers?

Heat Resistance

Imagine your lab table deforming due to the heat released from an incubator. The equipment in biology labs release enormous heat, like hot plates, heating mantles, and hot air baths. Your biology lab worktop must be able to withstand the heat.

Impact Resistance

Heavy equipment such as water baths, SpeedVac vacuum dryers and PCR machines put immense load on the worktop. Hence, the worktop must be able to sustain the weight and be positioned at an optimum height for the users.

Moisture Resistance

Spills on the worktop are more common than successful experiments. No matter the reagent, water is the common enemy. Of your lab table I mean! Biology lab tables need to be water resistant, even when left moist for a long time. 

Antimicrobial Properties

Biology lab furniture tables should inhibit bacterial growth and be easy to disinfect. Imagine bacteria growing on your table and then infecting your sample. Ruined experiments because of poor lab furniture choices!

Worktop Choices for Biology Lab Furniture

Depending on the challenges of the biology lab where you are working, you will need to select the appropriate worktop for your biology lab furniture. From the choices below, you will find resistant worktops designed to withstand all types of damages and assaults that might be encountered in your biology lab.

Granite

• Suitable for general lab applications with moderate chemical and fungal resistance.
• Can be coated with phenolic resin to improve its performance at a lower cost than solid phenolic resin blocks.
• Slightly porous.

High Pressure Laminate

• Offers light-duty chemical resistance.
• Coated with water-resistant adhesives and phenolic resin for protection from acids.
• Aesthetic, tough, and more break-resistant than granite, though generally more expensive than granite.
• Non-porous.

Epoxy Resin

• Resistant to chemicals, acids, alkalis, and solvents.
• Highly resistant to heat and physical abuse.
• Ideal for harsh chemical and physical environments, like biology labs.
• Non-porous.

Phenolic Resin

• Provides the highest chemical resistance.
• Lighter than epoxy resin with lower transportation costs.
• Less mechanical load capacity.
• Lower warping.
• Non-porous.

Stainless Steel

• Chemical resistant and easy to clean, making it suitable for biology labs.
• Antimicrobial.
• Heat resistant up to 1500°F.
• Aesthetic finish: Brushed or polished.
• Non-porous.

Wooden Worktops

• Not chemical resistant and unsuitable for biology labs.
• Can be used in physics, mechanics, or electronics labs.
• Provides a warm, comfortable look but has poor moisture and bacterial resistance.
• Highly porous.

Importance of Material Porosity for Lab Worktops

Resistance to bacterial growth and chemicals depends on the material’s porosity. Porous materials allow contaminants to seep in, accelerating degradation, while non-porous worktops offer better durability. For biology labs, non-porous worktops made of stainless-steel, high-pressure laminate, epoxy, or phenolic blocks are recommended.

Arrange Your Biology Lab Furniture Properly for Maximum Productivity

Streamlined furniture is designed to enhance workflow by positioning samples and machines in a sequential order that matches the experimental process. This layout ensures that equipment is arranged consecutively, reducing the need to transport samples between workstations. 

Additionally, trolleyed frames make it easy to relocate items like incubators, and many pieces of movable furniture come equipped with castor wheels—ideal for moving trays that hold pipettes and other small equipment. 

Lab tables often feature integrated shelves both at the surface and nearby, providing convenient storage for items needed during experiments. Dedicated stations such as pipette stands, peg boards for hanging wet glassware, and specific sinks for washing both glassware and plasticware are crucial in biology labs, where frequent cleaning of glassware is necessary. 

Confused about how you should start planning your lab furniture arrangement?

Get in Touch with lab experts at www.labkafe.com for a FREE lab furniture consultation. 

For school biology demonstration models, visit store.labkafe.com.