Haze on bottles after soaking in ammonia

Hey all-
I recently soaked maybe 150 bottles in a dilute ammonia solution to get the labels off, but got sort of busy and let them sit for almost a week. After drying (labels came off great), I noticed that nearly all of them had a deposit of some hazy, powdery stuff on both the inside and outside of the bottles. I tried soaking them again in Oxyclean, to no effect. Anyone else have this problem? It seems like there should be something that would just take this stuff right off (vinegar, maybe?), but I can't seem to find any information. I should probably just cut my losses, but some of these are 22oz bottles, as well as some flip tops and I'd rather not just throw them away. A good bottle scrubber would probably work, but that's a lot of bottles. Any ideas?

I'd guess it's glue residue that didn't come off. When I soak my bottles, I pull the label and then just run a fingernail scrub-brush over the bottles real quick as I take them out, they come out super clean. Never had any leftovers like you're describing, but there is a haze from the glue before I scrub them off (it's not really scrubbing, you could even just do it with your palm). What concentration of ammonia are you using?

Seems like you could just soak them again and dissolve whatever was there. I've left bottles for a week, and they came out clean and clear. Yours just had something on them that dried on, so it should dissolve again.

It doesn't seem like glue residue. It's kind of a dusty salty residue. I was wondering if it could be some kind of ammonia salt that formed after reacting with the glue or something, though it's not all that soluble. I tried soaking them again (in a fairly strong Oxyclean solution), and it didn't help. I honestly can't figure out what it is.

the glue will dissolve into the acetone untill it reaches equilibrium and is totally mixed. as you have found out- it takes a few days. if there is a thin film of acetone/glue mix on the bottles and you dont wash it off before it dries, you will be left with a thin film of glue covering the entire bottle inside and out when the acetone evaporates.

just soak or scrub them again in fresh acetone. oxyclean will only work if the glue is water soluble.

audger said:

the glue will dissolve into the acetone untill it reaches equilibrium and is totally mixed. as you have found out- it takes a few days. if there is a thin film of acetone/glue mix on the bottles and you dont wash it off before it dries, you will be left with a thin film of glue covering the entire bottle inside and out when the acetone evaporates.

just soak or scrub them again in fresh acetone. oxyclean will only work if the glue is water soluble.

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Acetone?! Man, you don't mess around, do you?

sorry, thought he said acetone for some reason. i meant ammonia, though either should work.

Acetone's not a bad idea i guess. I'll try some stronger ammonia first though. Then maybe xylene.

SilverZero said:

Acetone?! Man, you don't mess around, do you?

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Hahaha. I was thinking the same thing.

audger said:

sorry, thought he said acetone for some reason. i meant ammonia, though either should work.

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This. Soak for another day or two in a fresh solution and then rinse as soon as you remove them. That should take care of your issue.

SuperNintendoChalmers said:

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HA! I can't believe I missed reading your username until now. Very nice, my friend. Reminds me of another forum some time ago where I ran across somebody named "JoeyJoeJoeJuniorShabadoo".

The most intimidating part of commenting in an online forum is picking a screen name. Glad you like it - I might start using it everywhere.