Of course, getting everyone to agree on what is the best stain can be a challenge. It may be easiest to program whatever staining is being used to accommodate several protocols with slightly different times, so that the pathologists have some options.
When adjusting coloration, it is best to keep it simple. The following adjustments often work well:
- Hematoxylin +/- 30 seconds
- Eosin Y +/- 15 seconds
Typically, it is helpful to only make one adjustment at a time. These times are just enough to make subtle changes. You can be more aggressive if needed. If the hematoxylin is way too light, then certainly increase the time by one minute or more. For tweaking, however, the times above tend to work well.
REMEMBER: Sometimes simply adjusting either the hematoxylin or eosin may be enough to make the other brighter or lighter, depending on what you are looking for.
