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)?
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.
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.
Nowadays, a 14-yo spending a week with a man, sharing a /really/ cheap room (several beds; mariners coming and going at any time) wouldn't be allowed. Then, it was just a week of learning a lot about DIY (except the big crane for the last bit).
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
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.
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