A perennial favorite debate among TEM users is which side of the grid to use, the dull side or the shiny side. This question popped up again on the Microscopy tistserver, and received several welt-informed replies, tn the past, the answer has typically been "whichever works" or "Welt, I learned it this way". Now opinion seems to be leaning towards a particular side. Read on for the answers

From John Bozzola, Director, Center for Electron Microscopy, Southern Illinois University:

This is a good basic question - one that many microscopists have asked when coating grids with various plastic substrates.