Microbial sampling apparatus and process

A method of preparing a microbial sampler comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a sheet of porous plastic foam;
• (b) providing a roll of double face adhesive tape having a heavy duty paper backing protecting each adhesive face of the tape;
• (c) removing a length of the double face adhesive from the roll such that an exposed adhesive tape face is obtained by peeling away the protective paper backing from one face of the adhesive tape;
• (d) adhesively securing the exposed adhesive face to the sheet of porous plastic foam;
• (e) employing a strip of plastic material to replace the remaining protective paper backing on the remaining adhesive face of the adhesive tape;
• (f) providing a container having a quantity of melted nutrient agar therein;
• (g) immersing the sheet of porous plastic foam into the melted agar leaving the attached adhesive tape exposed;
• (h) adding a weight to the exposed adhesive tape to maintain the immersed position of, and prevent movement of, the porous plastic foam in the agar;
• (i) refrigerating the container for a period of time sufficient to cause the melted agar to jell;
• (j) removing the container from the refrigerating environment, removing the weight and adding additional agar to completely immerse the adhesive tape covering on the porous plastic foam;
• (k) refrigerating the container again to jell the additional agar,
• (l) removing the container from the refrigerating environment and trimming the excess agar from the agar saturated porous plastic foam and adhesive tape protective cover to recover a sampler that may be placed directly onto a suspect surface to collect sample of any microbial contaminants thereon.