What the heck is this on my keg?

[phildo79]

Came home after a week away and found these strange white, powdery lines on this keg. The keg was cleaned before I went on holiday and placed in the fridge. The keg is empty. The gas cylinder in the fridge is turned off. Some strange looking lines so I asked my son if he drew on it and he said no. Very odd. Any ideas?

 

[samale]

Slug

 

[klaus]

sorry can't help you with this though my initial thought was a snail or slug??

 

[Sadfield]

If you cleaned it with oxy, it could be sodium carbonate.

 

[An Ankoù]

Siberian killer keg slug.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Yep. Slug/snail trail.

I used to get those on my kit that I keep in an outside cupboard. I now thoroughly dry my kit, then let it air dry for 24 hours then put it away. That seems to have deterred them and I don't get them anymore

 

[phildo79]

But why is it like powder? It's a new fridge so I would expect the seal around the door to be good. It certainly needs a bit of oomph to open it.

I cleaned it with oxy.

Does slug juice turn powdery when it is cold?

 

[Sadfield]

https://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/environment/slugs-teleport-into-houses-2014090390131

 

[phildo79]

Makes sense.

Checked the fridge. No sign of a slug and no other trails anywhere. He must have been beamed out by Scotty.

This is really bizarre. I only took the keg out of the fridge to clean it, before putting it back in the fridge. And this was done around lunchtime. Not normally when you see slugs. So it would have needed to get on the keg, leave that crazy trail, get off the keg, all while I was cleaning it. And then the keg being in the fridge at around 10c has turned the slime powdery. Seems like a stretch.

 

[phildo79]

I have a theory. It is a slug trail but an old one. Somehow the oxy got on the outside of the keg, stuck to the trail and dried in the fridge.

 

[Agentgonzo]

I have a theory. It is a slug trail but an old one. Somehow the oxy got on the outside of the keg, stuck to the trail and dried in the fridge.

I too was wondering about an old trail, but couldn't guess what stuck itself to the outside.

 

[Sadfield]

It's just sodium percarbonate solution that's run down from the top, and up from from the bottom rubbers, then crystallised.

Do a forum search for 'oxy residue', and you'll find multiple threads about the same phenomenon on fv's and bottles.

If it were a slug, it'd be one continuous trail, as to my knowledge they can't jump.

I've the same on the bottles I cleaned yesterday.

 

[The Baron]

Here we go (Sherlock Holmes impersonation), the trails look to erratic and sharp turns etc with some going to a stop for slugs IMO.
Slugs tend to be smooth curves of movement than the geometric erratic ones on the keg, but to me the Earth is flat

 

[Brewelder]

It’s cleaner/steriliser residue, i get it on mine all the time and it doesn’t do any harm and easily cleaned off.

 

[phildo79]

I had a real problem with slugs getting into my kitchen a while ago. Thankfully, that seems to have been solved. But one thing I did notice was that slugs do not always leave a continuous trail. But it is the shape in the last photo that really is bizarre.

 

[Deadhead]

I think it's cleaner residue rather than slugs/snails. Or aliens. Definitely aliens.

 

[grommit]

IT IS oxy, sometimes it stay on rubber and moisture makea IT run... very clean but looks ugly ( taste IS oxy too, not recommend)

 

[Agentgonzo]

The paths seem a bit random from moisture running. I would have expected them to be more vertical if it was moisture buildup that ran.

 

[allotment_fox]

if its a slug it should be around set a slug pub trap in a small shallow dish filled with beer in a night or two there should be a slug in the dish you will soon hear the very drunk slugs singing show me the way to go home

 

[phildo79]

Tried slug traps in the past. They don't work, in my experience. I had an infestation last summer. In the end, the only fix was sealing all the entry points to the house and relocating the ones in the garden. Shifted 100 in a week. Now I rarely see one.

I think it is most likely an old trail that oxy has clung to. I could not find any other evidence of a slug being in the fridge. I have a half keg in there that has a neoprene jacket. The jacket, walls, glass etc. were all clean.