Cleaning Ammonia

Ammonia is a cheap, easy to use, and powerful household chemical. Done right, one bottle of ammonia can last for a long time. Some supermarkets will carry ammonia with soap pre mixed in to the gallon. However, you're paying extra money for these companies to mix it for you. The correct thing to do is buy a bottle of pure ammonia and mix it with soap yourself. Simply put 2 cups of water per 1 cup ammonia per batch. Then add a couple squirts of dish washing soap, and you have your soapy solution. Remember when mixing ammonia and water, pour the chemical in to the water first, not the other way around.

Clean oven racks

Do you get sick of wasting gas to heat your oven up to ridiculous temperatures to burn stuff off of your oven racks? Does normal degreaser get all the baked on foods off of your oven racks? It provably doesn't, but there are easier ways to remove all that grease from them. Soak the oven racks in a container large enough to hold them. Fill the container with a half cup to one cup of ammonia depending on how big the container is. If you have to use your bath tub, you'll probably need to clean it up afterwards.

Clean crystal dishes

Does milk, spaghetti, or other foods and drinks tend to stain your crystal cups and dishes when you don't clean them properly? Simply add a few drops of ammonia per cup of water and scrub the dish in question thoroughly. This should make your crystal shine and sparkle like new.

Get rid of moths

Moths can ruin clothing, dirty dishes, and explode in your light bulbs. Traditional ways to eliminate moths aren't ideal. Moth balls smell and many people are against leaving them laying around their house. It smells up closed spaces and is in general a pain to deal with. If you put a quarter cup of ammonia and mix it with a quart of water, you have a homemade moth repellant. You can wipe down cabinets, closet doors, or anywhere else you need to repel moths. To help air out the area, leave any cabinets or doors open that you wipe down with this solution.

Get rid of paint fumes

Putting shallow bowls of ammonia in a freshly painted room will help absorb the paint fumes. It should take a couple of days, but is worth it in the long run. If it doesn't work after the second or third day, try replacing the dishes of ammonia perhaps adding another.

Clean soot on fireplaces

Mixing 1 tablespoon of ammonia, 2 tablespoons of vinegar 1 quart of water in a spray bottle creates a solution able to strip soot off most surfaces including your fireplace door. Let the solution soak on the soot for a few minutes and then wipe it off with a towel or rag.

Clean soap scum off bathtub and sink

With as little as one table spoon of ammonia per gallon of hot water, it is enough to scrub off even the nastiest and built up soap scum. The easiest way to clean soap scum off your bathtub is to regularly keep up with it so it doesn't keep building up.

Clean streak free windows

Sick of buying expensive window cleaning products such as streak free Windex? Simply mixing one cup of pure ammonia with three cups of water will give you a solution just as good as Windex. Just as it makes crystal glasses clear as new, it cleans your windows to where they are just as good as new. It also adds a streak free element if you use a clean white cloth.

Cleaning wax

Mix one cup of ammonia in a half gallon of warm water and apply to the wax. Let the solution soak in for a few minutes and scrub with a heavy brush. Either nylon or plastic will be strong enough to wipe the wax off.

Clean stains off concrete

Mix one cup of ammonia with a gallon of warm water. Scrub with a broom as much as possible and hose down. The higher the pressure the better for removing any stains off of concrete. A pressure washer using soapy ammonia will get off most stains off concrete, maybe even oil.