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I'm trying to translate a Russian sentence from a biotech-related technical text as closely to the original as possible. The original sentence is:

Пинцет обрабатывают безворсовой салфеткой, смоченной 76 % медицинским антисептическим раствором.

My attempt:

Wipe the pair of tweezers with a fiberless wipe ____ the 76 % medical antiseptic solution.

I'm not sure which word would be the most natural in the underscored location. Containing? Treated with? Impregnated with? Doused with? Dunked in?

The Russian original word, смоченной, means "moistened with".

I googled around and it looks like structures like this are used:

Disinfect the scissors and tweezers with an alcohol wipe before and after use...

But that would hardly work in my case.

Wipe the tweezers with varnish thinner immediately after use ...

This omits the use of the "wiping material" altogether, and would not work in my case.

P.S. Maybe one should flip-flop the sentence? Like this:

Wipe the pair of tweezers with the 76 % medical antiseptic solution applied to a lint-free wipe.

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    The phrase saturated with would probably work, if you don't like moistened with. What is the problem with "moistened"? "... a fiberless wipe moistened with the 76% medical antiseptic solution".
    – TimR
    Commented Sep 24, 2017 at 11:52
  • @Tᴚoɯɐuo - so "moistened with" is okay? Thank you! In the meantime I reworked my translation to "Wipe a pair of tweezers with the 76 % medical antiseptic solution using a fiberless wipe."
    – CowperKettle
    Commented Sep 24, 2017 at 12:33
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    My only doubt about moistened with is that it gives the person latitude to decide when the wipe is moist enough, whereas saturated with does not. I'd be inclined to write "well moistened with" :) Don't want those tweezers to spread infection.
    – TimR
    Commented Sep 24, 2017 at 12:38
  • @Tᴚoɯɐuo How about soaked in?
    – user3395
    Commented Sep 24, 2017 at 14:08
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    soaked in is also a possibility. It's roughly synonymous with saturated but in a different register. Rags soaked in oil were wrapped around sticks and used as torches. The bandage was soaked in blood.
    – TimR
    Commented Sep 24, 2017 at 14:11

2 Answers 2

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I would suggest a different structure:

  • Disinfect the pincette with a lint free wipe moistened with 76% medical antiseptic solution.

As for the word to choose: "moist" is perfectly fine in medicine. But as much as we can understand from the sentence, the wipe should be thoroughly wet and not just slightly wet, so maybe "soaked in" would be an even better choice.

As for the word "pincette" (a small pair of pincers used in surgery) it all depends on the type of instrument mentioned. It might be a pair of pincers, forceps (used in surgery). See What Are the Differences between Tweezers and Forceps? and Pincet (pincette) and Tweezers

If you are speaking of medicine then perhaps "forceps" (thumb forceps) or "pair of forceps" would be your best choice.

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  • Thank you for lint free wipe. I used "fiberless wipe" because Multitran said so, but was very, very unsure whether this is the correct translation: it evokes almost no google-hits.
    – CowperKettle
    Commented Sep 24, 2017 at 15:33
  • I'm not sure about "pincette", but too lazy to ask a separate question about that.
    – CowperKettle
    Commented Sep 24, 2017 at 15:43
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    moistened in is not quite idiomatic. +1 for "lint-free".
    – TimR
    Commented Sep 24, 2017 at 16:06
  • @Tᴚoɯɐuo I agree. I Googled and you're right!
    – SovereignSun
    Commented Sep 24, 2017 at 16:23
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I've just come across the phrase impregnated wipe, apparently in use in this sector. Thus the word impregnated might fit.

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