Drying of PAGE gels - Cellophane

[Jens Alfken]

Hi,

We are drying a lot of PAGE gels wrapped in cellophane. The 
cellophane we buy currently from BioRad and it is imho very
expensive. So I went to the local arts supply shop and bought
a large roll of cellophane for a fraction of the price. Unfortunately
the stuff doesn`t work ! It is impossible to prewet with water
(would MeOH/water make a difference ? just a thought). And when
used the way it is the gel won't dry. It seems the stuff is 
waterimpermeable.
Having grown up in europe I can remember using cellophane
from the local shop to cover glasses of homemade jam/marmelade. In my
memory that stuff wetted just as great as the BioRad stuff does.

Is cellophane in the US something different than in europe ?

I guess someone, somewhere must have looked for a replacement 
for the expensive Biotech companies stuff. So what do I have to
look for ? Any comments wellcome.

Jens Alfken
alfken at athena.mit.edu