Plastic Pipettes

Plastic pipettes cost little enough to throw away after one use, and a learner who drops one hasn't broken anything. Most of this range is Pasteur pipettes, also called transfer pipettes or droppers. The bulb and stem are moulded in one piece, so you squeeze, dip the tip and let go to draw up a few millilitres and move them to another container.

The non-sterile ones come in bulk packs of 100, 250 or 500 for school practicals and general bench work. For microbiology and cell culture, where contamination matters, there are sterile Pasteur pipettes wrapped one by one, from 1ml up to 10ml.

When you need a measured volume, use the sterile polystyrene serological pipettes. They run from 1ml to 50ml and come individually peel-packed or in bulk packs that are DNase and RNase free. The polypropylene pipette stands and storage box on this page keep them off the bench between uses.

We ship from Boksburg to anywhere in South Africa, and a school ordering for the year can mix sizes and pack types in one order.

If the job needs Class A accuracy, glass volumetric and graduated pipettes are on the laboratory pipettes page, with fillers and stands. Running food tests with the class? Our Grade 9 starch and fats food test guide covers the iodine and brown paper methods and the marks each step carries.

Bagged and loose plastic transfer pipettes on a white bench

What is a plastic pipette?

A plastic pipette is a slender tube used to transfer small volumes of liquid from one container to another. Disposable transfer (Pasteur) pipettes are made from LDPE or PP and can be squeezed to draw up and expel liquid without a separate bulb. Calibrated single-channel pipettes are precision instruments with adjustable volume settings for accurate micro-volume dispensing. Both types replace glass Pasteur pipettes in settings where safety, sterility, or metal-free handling is a priority.

SmartLabs stocks disposable Pasteur pipettes in non-sterile bulk packs and individually EO-sterile packs, and single-channel calibrated pipettes for volumes from 0.5 ml to 50 ml, serving South African schools, university labs, and diagnostic facilities.

Common uses of plastic pipettes in the lab

Plastic pipettes serve essential roles across a wide range of laboratory and teaching applications.

  • A pipette releasing an amber droplet into a glass beaker

    Droplet and reagent addition

    Pasteur pipettes add exact quantities of indicator solution, stain, or reagent into a test vessel dropwise. The squeezable LDPE bulb gives the user direct control over delivery rate without the need for a separate rubber bulb or filler.

  • A gloved hand pipetting blue liquid into micro tubes

    Biological sample transfer

    Individually sterile EO Pasteur pipettes move cell cultures, blood samples, or biological fluids between containers without contaminating the sample. Single-use sterile pipettes eliminate cross-contamination between samples in diagnostic and research workflows.

  • A pupil filling a plastic pipette over a test tube rack

    Classroom chemistry

    Disposable transfer pipettes replace glass Pasteur pipettes in school labs, removing the breakage risk entirely. Learners can add indicator, transfer filtrate, and dispense reagents safely without handling fragile glass tubes.

  • A micropipette dispensing into a multi well plate

    Precise micro-volume dispensing

    Calibrated single-channel electronic or manual pipettes deliver precise, repeatable volumes for molecular biology, ELISA assays, and cell culture applications where volume accuracy of plus or minus 1% is required.

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