| abstract |
A process for removing contaminating coatings from metal surfaces in which the metal surface to be cleaned is brought into contact with an aqueous alkaline solution containing as an additive 0.1 to 10% by weight, based on the aqueous alkaline solution, of at least one compound of the formula R1-O-(CH2-CHR3-O-)xR2Iin which R1 and R2 are individually alkyl of 1 to 15 carbon atoms, R3 is hydrogen or methyl and x is an integer from 1 to 25. |