Household ammonia is (AFAICT) 5 to 10% ammonia in water, but it seems hard to find in the UK. (I want to try using it to remove greasy film from high surfaces in the kitchen.)
I have an old 2.5 litre bottle, about 2/3 full, of 25% ammonia that I got from a chemical supplier about 20 years ago. It's been closed and stored in a cool, dark place. Is there any reason why it wouldn't still be usable (diluted appropriately)?
Thanks.
Can't help you with the ammonia I'm afraid but have you tried Baby oil? Brilliant for softening and removing grease. Of course now you'll have oily cupboards but at least it's a lot easier to remove than the grease and a lot nicer to use.
Tim
Should be ok. not likely to have converted to anything nasty so just give it a try.
Homebase do small 500ml bottles of household ammonia, or at least used to. Quite expensive though around ?2 ish from memory.
Its not on their website but then maybe they don't sell it online
michael adams
...
Washing up liquid and a scouring pad does it for me. I wouldn't mess with ammonia, but use washing soda if an alkali is mandatory.
When I was about 14 I spent a week in Grimsby helping a friend of my father's boss* remove the engine from a trawler. To clean our hands etc. and tools that had old oil and grease on them we used clean oil - worked a treat and, as you say, easy to wash off.
I'm not sure whether washing up liquid and a scouring pad would have been much use in clearing blocked nozzles.
Welcome to Wonderful World of Adventure which is Epson Inkjet cartridges (long since abandoned I hasten to add )
michael adams
...
Your nose should answer that question.
NT
In message , Adam Funk writes
Most unlikely to have deteriorated, but could have lost ammonia if the seal is not perfect.
If you have a hydrometer, the S.G. is a good indicator of concentration (at known temperature):
Quite, but don't put your nose over the bottle and just sniff! Sniff at a distance, wafting air towards you with your hand over the open top, otherwise if it's still a strong solution you'll blow your head off!
If it?s a glass bottle it should be fine depending on the cap.
If it's a plastic bottle, likely not, but there is no harm in trying it, the worst that can happen is that there isnt enough ammonia left to do what you want.
With regard to ammonia and if it goes off. The machine we had that did technical drawing printing used ammonia as part of the developing process. this was stored in large plastic cans, if you get my meaning here. Though these had to be stored in a cool and safe place, it did not seem to actually go off with ages of up to three years. Of course one could instantly tell if one of the containers had a leak as the whole store stank and made your eyes hurt. I suppose nowadays they have detectors for this. They would never allow it to be poured into the machine using a funnel in a closed office as they did in those days though, for elf and safety no doubt. it most certainly cleared the sinuses. Brian
I hadn't thought of that. I guess alcohol would remove the oil?
Yes. I knew that from chemistry class, but it's good advice.
Soapy cloth would probably do it. Baby oil is remarkably good at softening up old grease though.
Tim
The very best degreasers combine an organic solvent and a detergent. washing up liquid and white spirit is good.
OTOH if you use caustic soda, the caustic turns the grease into detergent.
soap is caustic+fat
More or less.
Knights Castille is olive oil and caustic. I'm not sure whether fatbergs (as found in the sewers) would lather too well.
They do
Which is why I never worry about shoving tons of caustic down me drains.
As is basically almost every toilet soap. Other fats and oils commonly used for soap making are coconut oil, beef tallow, sunflower oil, etc. You can make quite reasonable soap out of any blend of cooking oil or fat on a supermarket shelf, each oil or fat making its own contribution to the characteristics of the soap. Most natural fats and oils are compounds of glycerine and long-chain fatty acids, three acid chains to a molecule of glycerine, and called triglycerides (these are the same family of compounds as are included in a cholesterol blood test - triglycerides, i.e. fat particles). Commercial soap manufacturers separate out the glycerine before reacting the fatty acids with caustic soda, because glycerine is more valuable than the soap, but small-scale or hand-made soap makers don't bother, and their soap gives a creamier lather as a result (allegedly!).
No reason why they shouldn't, given caustic treatment.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.