Xylene is used as a solvent in pharmaceutical, printing, rubber, and leather industries. It is an important component of ink, rubber and adhesives as well as in thinning paints and varnishes. It is used in the laboratory to make baths with dry ice to cool reaction vessels, and as a solvent to remove synthetic immersion oil from the microscope objective in light microscopy. It finds application as a short-term hydrophobic clearing agent of tissue samples by histologists. It is a precursor for the preparation of xylene dichlorides, xylyl bromide, terephthalic acid and dimethyl terephthalate.

This Thermo Scientific Chemicals brand product was originally part of the Alfa Aesar product portfolio. Some documentation and label information may refer to the legacy brand. The original Alfa Aesar product / item code or SKU reference has not changed as a part of the brand transition to Thermo Scientific Chemicals.