Often, arthropod specimens in museum collections that are preserved in ethanol will accidentally dry out due to evaporation. The typical protocol for rehydrating such specimens is to use a solution of water and a wetting agent (such as trisodium phosphate or Decon 90) and heat at 40 to 50C until the specimen stops floating (usually a few days, but up to a couple weeks). Then they are transferred to fresh ethanol for preservation.

Recently, I've heard an entomologist rave about using Windex as a relaxing agent for preserved dry beetles. I'm wondering if it would also work well as a rehydrating agent (and not damage the specimens). My first concern was the blue dye, but apparently the dye is not staining. Would any of the other ingredients be harmful to the preservation of the specimens (assuming they are left in Windex for a couple weeks at the most)? The ingredients in generic Windex are: water, isopropyl alcohol, sodium xylenesulfonate (a surfactant and hydrotrope), ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (a stabiliser and water softener), ethylene glycol monobutyl ether (a solvent), ammonium hydroxide (degreaser), benzisothiazolinone (preservative and disinfectant), alcohol ethoxylate (emulsifier and surfactant), and spectramine turquoise G (dye).

I'm mostly just curious, but was thinking of doing an experiment to compare it with other protocols. But is there any reason right off the bat to think it would be a terrible solution for rehydrating arthropods (such as spiders, scorpions, crayfish, etc.)? Would it be likely to dissolve or damage exoskeleton chitin or other tissues? (Note that I'm not concerned about effects on DNA.) Thanks!