Cleaning With Ammonia

[Jason]

The household ammonia i ordered in the UK is far from weak - you cant even have your head anywhere around it when pouring it otherwise it stings your eyes and nose. The stuff is definitely toxic nothing would survive in it. Just google household ammonia + uk and you will find many distributors in the UK. But just a warning it is extremely strong and wouldnt put it anywhere near your skin.

[2manyfibers]

Just wanted to stick my 2 cents worth in here. Household ammonia is generally 10% strength or less (10% ammonia and 90% water). There are stronger solutions made but here in the states what is sold as household ammonia is this 10% solution. Ammonia and hydrogen peroxide both have been used in their pure forms as rocket fuel - and most of either of these substances intendended for household use is diluted significantly. Ammonia is generally considered an irritant more than being corrosive (like making your eyes water and your nasal passages turn inside out). However, ammonia of this strength generally won't hurt your skin at all. It is an old "home remedy" for insect bites and stings and works quite well as such. I've used it myself all my life for mosquito bites and bee stings and the like. Just put a little on your finger and rub it on the effected area (or pour it in your hand and rub it on your arms and legs or other exposed areas where you have been bitten by mosquitoes - if you live in the southeastern US and wear short pants in the summer, you know most of your legs can be bitten in short order). You don't have to "rub it in" or anything - just wet the skin with it. It really does work pretty well to relieve the itching of mosquito bites.

It also works great for cleaning jewelry like gold and silver and precious stones as well (as long as they aren't glued into a setting - it can dissolve some glues - although it may not be a very precious stone if its glued on ). Ammonia removes tarnish too (for anyone that remembers "Brasso" for polishing brass, you could smell the ammonia in it when you opened the can). For cleaning jewelry I always used a mixture of about half and half ammonia and water - just put it in a glass container (an old coffee mug or a glass / porcelain bowl works well) so that the jewelry is covered with water. Just let it sit for half an hour or so and you can agitate it a bit with your finger or just slosh it around a bit. If it needs a little extra cleaning you can wet an old soft toothbrush with the solution and gently rub the jewelry to loosen more persistent "gunk". Then rinse the jewelry with cold water (be careful not to drop it if you do it over a sink or you may want to be sure the drain is plugged) and lay it on a paper or cloth towel for drying. The jewelry will come out sparkling like it did when it was new.

[Jason]

Wow 2MF,

I never realised you could apply on your skin, i generally wouldn't after trying to smell it and it felt like my nose was going to explode! I just assumed it was toxic. My apologies

[whatthehelminth]

Although this thread is supposed to be about cleaning with Ammonia
Just had to add this gardening tip
(oh yeah, cleaning the garden)

Having lived on 5 wooded, shady acres for many years
we went "SLUGGIN" most every evening.

We started out sluggin with the BB gun but I dont think it killed them right away
and I can't bear seeing anything suffer, even a slug.
I even appologize when accidently breaking these mfs* in two with the tweezers?
wish I knew why I cry so easily, it has been a detriment to me all my life.
I cry at parades, ribbon cutting ceremonies, when the national anthem is played.... WHY?
Had I been born in China, they have a name for people like me
"Sum Sing Wong"

Anyway............ Ammonia is pure nitrogen
fill a small spray bottle with undilluted household ammonia
Just one squirt is all it takes.
slugs shrivel up and melt.
Plants love nitrogen so no worries spraying slugs attached to them.

wth

mfs* = metamorphose foofaraws