Deparaffinizing compositions and methods

A deparaffinizing composition for removing paraffin wax from biological samples for the staining and imaging of the biological samples, the composition comprising:

• a paraffin solvent comprising:
• a first apolar solvent and
• a second apolar solvent, the second apolar solvent having a polarity index between 0.120 to 0.240, being partially miscible with water and the second apolar solvent comprising at least 1% of the total volume of the deparaffinizing composition and less than 50% of the paraffin solvent;
• a first polar solvent that is miscible with water and the first and the second apolar solvents;
• greater than 15% by volume water suitable for rehydrating the biological sample and less than 25% by volume water;
• a detergent;
• and
• wherein a ratio of the paraffin solvent to the water is about 1 to 1 by volume while keeping the detergent to less than 6% of the total volume of the deparaffinizing composition.