At this point, the bacteria are just sitting on the slide.

If you try to stain the slide like this, the cells will wash off. The bacteria need to be fixed before staining. This is done by heating the cells to kill them and coagulate their proteins (which will stick them to the slide). Woah - hold on! You can't just stick the slide in the bunsen flame. If you do, the contents of the cells will boil and they will burst, then you won't be able to see their shape (important in identification). Before fixing, the slide must be thoroughly dried.

Dry the film by holding it in your cupped hand (palm down!) above a bunsen flame (use of the hand prevents boiling the cells!). When the film is dry, fix it by passing the slide (film downwards) slowly through a hot (blue) bunsen flame. Allow the slide to cool for a minute or two before staining.