Jay, you are 100% right about "pseudo-scientific mumbo jumbo" for the
mechanism. But have you (or anyone else) compared ammonia-water with ordinary
pure water for hydrating/softening? Water (with or without dissolved ammonia)
won't go through solid wax. The embedded tissue has to be exposed by
I wouldn't say softening, I would say hydrating. Ammonia water accelerates
hydration of FFPE blocks. Nobody knows how it works, it's a mystery. Or
at least I've never heard a scientific explanation. Only pseudo-scientific
mumbo jumbo like "facilitates the removal of paraffin" which is false.
