Decant the used developer, add the remaining chilled developer and continue to gently agitate until the bands have reached desired intensity. Over-development will result in a brown background with low contrast bands rather than a pencil gray background with sharp bands. Lift up plate to ensure that the neutralizing solution comes in contact with developer underneath the plate. As soon as the bubbling stops, rinse the gel thoroughly in d.i. water. Neutralizing too long will bleach out the bands.
Air dry the gel.
A flatbed scanner can be used to capture digital images of the gel. To dispose of gel, re-hydrate for a minimum of 10 min. in water. Scrape off the gel with a plastic scraper. Wash plates in alconox detergent, using sponges dedicated for each type of coating, rinse in d.i.water. To do this, soak the plate in 2M NaOH solution 1 hour and wash as above.