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# Resource Spotlight: Not Voodoo
- URL: https://chemissst.com/resource-spotlight-not-voodoo/
- Published: 2023-01-06T06:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-21T04:55:34.000Z
- Author: Sasha Sundstrom
- Tags: resources

[](https://www.chem.rochester.edu/notvoodoo/index.php?ref=chemissst.com)

Not Voodoo - everyone's favorite laboratory resource! Pretty sure that every [TLC stain recipe](https://www.chem.rochester.edu/notvoodoo/pages/magic%5Fformulas.php?page=tlc%5Fstains&ref=chemissst.com) I've used has come from this site. Also love reading through the [rookie mistakes](https://www.chem.rochester.edu/notvoodoo/pages/rookie%5Fmistakes.php?page=setup&ref=chemissst.com) section when I'm feeling bad about something going wrong in the lab -- feels good to know you're not alone, sometimes! One of my mentors in graduate school had a policy -- if 3 things go wrong in lab on any given day, you should leave the lab and spend the rest of the day reading/researching and not trying to do more chemistry. One day I shattered two flasks and then my separatory funnel stopper popped out from pressure and I was like "ah yes, it is time to read all those articles I downloaded".  
  
Also, my most-utilized section is definitely ["Buy it or make it?"](https://www.chem.rochester.edu/notvoodoo/pages/reagents.php?page=commercial%5Favail&ref=chemissst.com), which is maybe a little less relevant in the space I work in now as a late-late stage process chemist, but something that was INFINITELY useful when I was a graduate student/post-doc.  
  
Another chemist friend hates column chromatography and will often ask me for advice. I learned from the best, and can usually come up with a solution, but also, there's always the section of Not Voodoo that specifically talks about [troubleshooting columns](https://www.chem.rochester.edu/notvoodoo/pages/troubleshooting.php?page=flash%5Fcolumn%5Ftroubleshooting&ref=chemissst.com).