Staining jars have grooves inside the jar to hold the slides upright on their end to ensure effective stain coverage and make it easier to handle slides. Also known as Coplin or Hellendahl jars, staining jars can also be used to store slides or as a thin-layer chromatography (TLC) developing chamber.

Staining dishes hold microscope slides on their side to ensure slides are evenly covered in stain.

Spot plates (sometimes called reaction or culture plates) have multiple small wells to test multiple samples simultaneously.

Staining dish covers prevent contamination of staining dish contents.