Bitesize Bio's Nick Oswald rounds up some helpful tips on effective sterilization techniques, going over five major methods and how they work. Wet heat, otherwise known as autoclaving, is the method of choice for most labs. With dry heat, higher temps are needed to kill the bugs. Filtration is a "great way of quickly sterilizing solutions without heating," he says, but don't count on it to catch viruses and phages.