Storage Hollowares: Jars, Syringe Boxes & Petri Dishes
Every dressing room, dispensary and clinic lab has a shelf of small stainless steel storage items — jars, boxes, dishes and scoops. Individually they are among the cheapest lines in a hollowares order. Together they are often the longest part of the order, and the part most likely to arrive in the wrong sizes. This guide covers what each item is for and how to order them as a group.
Jars: covered storage and dispensing
| Item | Used for |
|---|---|
| Ointment jars | Storing and dispensing ointments and topical preparations, with a fitted cover |
| Forcep jar | A tall jar that holds forceps and long instruments upright, ready for use |
| Dressing jars | Covered storage of dressings, gauze and cotton |
| Jars with covers | General covered storage for cotton, swabs and small clinical items |
| Cotton holder | Covered dispensing of cotton and swabs at the point of use |
Forcep jars are sized by height, not just diameter. The jar has to be tall enough for your longest forceps to stand upright without tipping out. Measure the instruments before you order. Whether the jar holds a disinfectant solution, and which one, is set by your clinic’s own protocol.
Order jars by name. Ointment jars, dressing jars and general jars with covers are separate lines, each in its own size range. “Jars, assorted” on a purchase order produces an assortment you didn’t choose.
Boxes and dishes
- Syringe box — a lidded stainless box for holding, sterilising and carrying syringes and needles. It also works as a compact lidded case for carrying small instruments, so it is worth ordering in more than one size.
- Petri dish — a reusable, autoclavable stainless steel dish for laboratory and clinical handling where disposable dishes are not preferred. Steel gives you durability and reuse, but not visibility: choose glass or plastic where you need to see through the dish.
- Scoop — for clean handling of powders, dressings and small materials in pharmacy and dispensing.
Open trays for working setups
Covered trays are for storage; open trays are for working:
- Surgical trays without cover — open trays for laying out instruments during dressings and treatment.
- Dental trays — smaller trays for chairside instrument setups in dental clinics.
If a quote comes back with open trays where you expected covered ones, or the reverse, check before confirming — the two are easy to mix up on a long line list. For covered, storage-side trays, see our instrument reprocessing guide.
How to order a long list of small lines
- Group by room. Dressing room, dispensary, lab and dental chairside need different things, and a per-room list is far easier to check than one long one.
- Give a size and a quantity for every line. No “assorted”.
- Confirm lids line by line. Most storage items are only useful covered.
- Specify grade, gauge and finish once, for the whole group, so the shelf matches.
- Consolidate. Small items pack into the gaps around larger hollowares and equipment, which makes them cheap to ship alongside a bigger order. See our notes on export packaging and shipping.
Who orders it
Clinics and nursing homes stocking dressing rooms, hospital pharmacies and dispensaries, teaching and clinic labs, dental practices, and distributors who keep these lines on the shelf as fill-in items for larger hollowares orders.
For the full category, start with our hospital hollowares buyer’s guide.
Source direct
Optolab Zone manufactures and exports the full hospital hollowares range from Ambala, India. Send your list grouped by room, with sizes and quantities, and we’ll quote with export terms. Request a quote or message us on WhatsApp.