If you've spent any time in a lab, whether it's a high school science classroom or a university research facility, you've almost certainly picked up a pipette dropper at some point. It's one of those tools that looks deceptively simple but quietly does some of the most important work in any experiment: moving small, precise amounts of liquid from one place to another.
The problem is, "pipette dropper" isn't just one thing. Walk into most labs in Australia and you'll find half a dozen different types sitting in the drawer, each one suited to a slightly different task. Pick the wrong one and you're either wasting reagent, getting inaccurate results, or worst case contaminating your sample.
This guide breaks it all down. We'll cover the main types of dropper pipettes, what each one is actually good for, and how to choose the right one based on what your lab is doing. Whether you're a teacher setting up a Year 10 chemistry class or a researcher in a molecular biology lab, there's something here for you.
What Is a Pipette Dropper?
A pipette dropper (also commonly written as "pippet dropper" a frequent search spelling) is a small, handheld laboratory instrument used to transfer or dispense controlled volumes of liquid. The basic design is simple: a narrow tube, tapered at one end, with a rubber bulb or other mechanism at the other end to create suction.
You squeeze the bulb, submerge the tip in liquid, release the bulb to draw liquid up, then squeeze again to dispense. It sounds almost too simple to warrant a whole guide but the differences between types are significant, and those differences matter when accuracy, sterility, or chemical compatibility are on the line.
Dropper pipettes are used across a huge range of settings in Australia:
- Secondary school and university teaching labs
- Hospital pathology and diagnostic labs
- Pharmaceutical manufacturing and quality control
- Environmental testing and water analysis
- Microbiology and cell culture research
- Food safety and agricultural testing
The term "dropper pipette" is sometimes used interchangeably with "Pasteur pipette," but in practice, it covers a much broader family of tools. Let's go through the main types.
Types of Pipette Droppers: A Practical Breakdown
1. Pasteur Pipette Dropper
The Pasteur pipette is the classic. Named after Louis Pasteur, who used them extensively in his microbiology experiments, these are long, slender tubes tapered to a fine tip, fitted with a separate rubber bulb.
They come in two materials:
Glass Pasteur pipettes are chemically resistant, heat-tolerant, and ideal when you're working with organic solvents, concentrated acids, or anything that would degrade plastic. They can be sterilised by autoclaving, which makes them popular in microbiology. The downside is obvious they're fragile. Drop one and you've got a glass hazard to clean up.
Plastic (polyethylene) Pasteur pipettes are disposable, lightweight, and safe to use in high-throughput environments where contamination risk is a concern. They don't have the same chemical resistance as glass, but for aqueous solutions and biological samples, they're more than adequate. They're particularly common in school labs where safety matters.
Key point: Pasteur pipettes are uncalibrated. They're designed for transfers where approximate volume is fine adding a reagent dropwise, washing a precipitate, or moving a small sample between vessels. Don't reach for one when you need a specific measured volume.
Best for: General liquid transfer, dropwise addition of reagents, biological sample handling, microbiology workflows.
2. Graduated Dropper Pipettes (Measuring Pipettes)
These look similar to a Pasteur pipette but have one important difference: graduation markings along the side. These markings let you measure and dispense specific volumes typically in increments of 0.1 mL or 0.5 mL.
There are two main sub-types:
Mohr pipettes have graduation marks only along part of the tube. The markings start a centimetre or two below the top and end before the tip, which means you always dispense from one marked point to another. They're accurate and well-suited to quantitative chemistry work.
Serological pipettes are graduated all the way to the tip, allowing the full contents to be dispensed. They're very common in tissue culture labs and biological research.
If you're preparing solutions of known concentration, doing titrations, or making serial dilutions, a graduated dropper pipette gives you far more control than a plain Pasteur.
Best for: Quantitative liquid transfers, solution preparation, titrations, serial dilutions, cell culture work.
3. Micropipette (Precision Dropper Pipette)
For anyone working at the molecular or cellular level, the micropipette is the gold standard. These are mechanical instruments; not rubber bulb droppers that use a piston mechanism to aspirate and dispense extremely small volumes with very high accuracy.
Micropipettes are typically available in three volume ranges:
- P20 — 2 to 20 µL
- P200 — 20 to 200 µL
- P1000 — 100 to 1000 µL
They work with disposable plastic tips that slot onto the nozzle, which means there's no cross-contamination between samples. For PCR, ELISA, DNA extraction, or any assay where you're working in the microlitre range, a micropipette isn't optional — it's essential.
One thing to note: micropipettes need regular calibration to maintain accuracy. Most Australian labs that follow GLP (Good Laboratory Practice) guidelines will have a calibration schedule in place.
Best for: Molecular biology, genomics, clinical diagnostics, immunoassays, any application requiring microliter-scale precision.
4. Volumetric Pipette
A volumetric pipette is designed to measure one specific volume and to measure it with exceptional accuracy. There's a single calibration mark on the neck of the pipette; when the meniscus sits exactly on that line, you have precisely the stated volume (e.g., 10.00 mL or 25.00 mL).
These are the pipettes you reach for in analytical chemistry when preparing standard solutions or working to Class A accuracy tolerances. Unlike dropper pipettes with bulbs, volumetric pipettes are typically used with a pipette filler (a rubber pump or automated filler) to avoid mouth pipetting a practice that is, rightly, not used in modern labs.
Best for: Analytical chemistry, preparation of standard solutions, high-accuracy quantitative work.
5. Dropper Bottles with Integral Pipette
A slightly different category but worth mentioning. Dropper bottles combine storage and dispensing in one unit. The bottle cap incorporates a dropper tip, so you can dispense liquid drop by drop directly from storage. They're particularly common in clinical settings, for dispensing reagents, indicators, or essential oils in controlled amounts.
They're not precision instruments by any means, but they're convenient and reduce the risk of contamination that comes with repeatedly dipping a separate pipette into a reagent bottle.
Best for: Storing and dispensing indicators, stains, oils, and reagents in small quantities.
Glass vs Plastic Pipette Droppers: Which Should You Choose?
One of the most common questions when sourcing dropper pipettes is whether to go with glass or plastic. The honest answer is: it depends on what you're doing.
Choose glass when:
- You're working with organic solvents, alcohols, or strong acids that degrade plastic
- You need to autoclave for sterility
- You're handling solutions that require visual clarity or where adsorption to plastic could affect results
- You need long-term reusability (glass pipettes, properly cleaned, last years)
Choose plastic when:
- Speed and convenience matter more than longevity (high-throughput labs)
- Contamination risk is a concern disposable means no cleaning protocol needed
- You're working in a school or teaching lab where broken glass is a safety issue
- Cost-per-test needs to stay low
Many Australian labs use both glass for specific reagent work and disposable plastic for routine sample transfers.
How to Use a Pipette Dropper: A Quick Step-by-Step
Even experienced lab workers can develop sloppy habits with dropper pipettes. Here's the correct technique:
- Attach the bulb to the top of the pipette (for glass Pasteur types). Make sure it's seated firmly.
- Squeeze the bulb before submerging the tip in the liquid. Squeezing while the tip is already in liquid can introduce air bubbles or cause splashing.
- Submerge just the tip not the whole pipette into the liquid. Insert the tip a centimetre or so below the surface.
- Slowly release the bulb to draw liquid up. Don't release too quickly, especially with narrow-tipped glass pipettes, as it can cause the liquid to overshoot.
- Remove the pipette and dispense by gently squeezing the bulb. For dropwise addition, do this slowly and deliberately.
- Never set a filled pipette down horizontally liquid can run into the bulb and contaminate it.
- Clean or dispose of the pipette appropriately after use.
For graduated pipettes used with a pipette filler, the technique differs draw liquid slightly above the graduation mark, then release slowly until the meniscus sits exactly on the line you need.
Choosing the Right Pipette Dropper for Your Lab
Here's a quick reference to help you match the tool to the task:
| If you need to… | Best pipette dropper type |
|---|---|
| Transfer liquid approximately | Pasteur pipette (glass or plastic) |
| Dispense specific volumes (mL range) | Graduated / Mohr pipette |
| Work with microlitre volumes precisely | Micropipette |
| Prepare analytical standard solutions | Volumetric pipette |
| Dispense drops from a storage container | Dropper bottle |
| Handle organic solvents or heat sterilise | Glass Pasteur or glass graduated pipette |
| Run high-throughput biological assays | Disposable plastic serological pipette |
Caring for and Maintaining Your Pipette Droppers
How long your pipette droppers last depends heavily on how they're maintained. A few key points:
Cleaning glass pipettes: After use, rinse immediately with the appropriate solvent — water for aqueous solutions, then a deionised water rinse. Soaking in mild detergent followed by thorough rinsing works well. Avoid abrasive scrubbers that can scratch the glass and compromise volume accuracy.
Rubber bulbs: Inspect regularly for cracks or hardening. A deteriorating bulb won't hold suction properly and can introduce contaminants into your pipette. Replace them as needed — they're inexpensive and it's not worth risking your results.
Graduated and volumetric pipettes: Handle these carefully. Even a minor chip near a graduation mark can affect accuracy. Store them in a pipette stand or canister, tip upward, never loosely in a drawer.
Micropipettes: These need periodic calibration — typically every 3 to 6 months depending on use intensity. Worn or poorly fitted tips can also cause accuracy issues, so always use tips designed for your specific model.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
A few things that trip people up, especially in school and undergraduate labs:
Mouth pipetting — this hasn't been acceptable practice for decades. Use a pipette filler, bulb, or mechanical pipettor. Full stop.
Reading the meniscus incorrectly — for aqueous solutions in glass pipettes, read from the bottom of the curved meniscus at eye level. Parallax errors from reading at an angle are a major source of inaccuracy.
Ignoring calibration — for any work where measurements matter, your pipettes should be regularly calibrated. An uncalibrated micropipette that drifts 5% can invalidate months of data.
Using the wrong pipette for the solvent — plastic pipettes and organic solvents don't mix. Always check chemical compatibility before you start.
Cross-contamination — in molecular biology especially, not changing tips between samples is an easy way to ruin an experiment. Disposable tips exist for a reason.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between a pipette and a dropper pipette? A dropper pipette is a specific type of pipette that uses a rubber bulb for suction and dispensing — the kind you'd recognise from a school lab. Other pipettes (like micropipettes or volumetric pipettes) use different mechanisms. All dropper pipettes are pipettes, but not all pipettes are dropper pipettes.
Is "pippet dropper" the correct spelling? The correct spelling is "pipette dropper" — with double 't' and an 'e' at the end. "Pippet" is a very common misspelling but refers to the same tool.
Can I reuse disposable plastic dropper pipettes? Technically you can rinse and reuse them for the same reagent, but they're designed for single use. In a sterility-sensitive environment, reusing them defeats the purpose. For general lab work with non-hazardous materials, a rinse and reuse is sometimes acceptable.
What size dropper pipette do I need? For general use — adding reagents, washing precipitates, transferring samples — a standard 3 mL glass or plastic Pasteur pipette is usually sufficient. For measured volumes, choose a graduated pipette with the appropriate range for your task.
How do I know if my pipette dropper is accurate enough? For approximate work (adding a few drops, transferring samples), a standard Pasteur pipette is fine. For anything quantitative, check the pipette's tolerance rating. Class A volumetric pipettes have tighter tolerances than Class B. Micropipettes should be calibrated regularly and their accuracy verified with a calibration check.
Where to Buy Pipette Droppers in Australia
At Science Equip, we supply a full range of laboratory pipettes and dropper pipettes to schools, universities, hospitals, research institutions, and industry across Australia. Whether you need a pack of disposable plastic Pasteur pipettes for a teaching lab, glass graduated pipettes for a chemistry class, or precision micropipette consumables for a research facility, we've got you covered.
We offer free shipping on orders over $150 within Australia, and our team can help you match the right products to your specific application. If you're not sure what you need, reach out — we're here to help.
Shop our range of pipettes and dropper pipettes at scienceequip.com.au
Science Equip is a trusted Australian supplier of laboratory equipment and consumables, serving schools, universities, healthcare, and research facilities nationwide.
