Why Use Flocked Swabs Instead of Ordinary Cotton Swabs for Nucleic Acid Testing?

Although the functions of ordinary cotton swabs and flocked swabs have many similarities and look similar, their uses are different. Let’s analyze why flocked swabs are used for nucleic acid sampling and antigen detection through simple experiments. instead of regular cotton swabs?

First prepare two glasses of water

Add blue ink dye to a cup

Have flocked swabs and ordinary cotton swabs ready

Add both to the ink at the same time, let it absorb water

We can see that the flocked swab and ordinary cotton swab are saturated with blue ink

Now add both to clear water and the magic happens

We can see that

The ink on the flocked swab has completely entered the clean water and the blue ink on the ordinary cotton swab still remains

It can be seen that flocked swabs can release samples better than ordinary cotton swabs. This is mainly caused by their structural differences. Ordinary cotton swabs are clumps of fibers, which are easy to get stuck in the middle of fibers when eluting samples, while the surface of the flocked swab is vertical The sample is adsorbed between the hairs due to capillary action, as long as there is a slight shaking, the sample will come off the swab.

Using flocked swabs to sample samples has a higher utilization rate, which is why we use flocked swabs for nucleic acid sampling and antigen testing.