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Adhesive tape whose pale stripes turn dark after processing.
Also known as: Autoclave tape, Steam indicator tape, Process indicator tape, Tape with stripes that go dark
Autoclave tape develops dark diagonal stripes when heated, and it proves only that the load reached temperature — not that it was held there long enough to sterilise. Confusing the two is the classic error: the tape is a process indicator, not a sterility assurance.
Indicates that an item has been through an autoclave cycle, its stripes darkening on exposure to steam at temperature.
Contexts: Medicine
Confirms exposure only, not sterilisation: it responds to temperature and not to the holding time that actually achieves sterility.
Contexts: Medicine
Is supplemented by biological indicators, which contain resistant spores and do test whether sterilising conditions were achieved.
Contexts: Medicine
A strip of pale adhesive tape bearing regularly spaced diagonal stripes, colourless before processing and dark brown or black after.