Ammonia Cleaners! Every Mom's Best Friend!

Some common home cleaning products that contain Ammonia which I was able to find in my house.

Ever wonder why those cleaners that your mom uses make your nose twitch and your throat ich? It may be because your cleaner has Ammonia in it!

Now you may be wondering what this means? Well let's start from the beginning.

How is Ammonia made?

Haber-Bosch Process

This process involves using Nitrogen and Hydrogen gas from the air and reacting them together. Both the gases are then compressed together to allow them to become  thoroughly mixed. The mixture of Nitrogen and Hydrogen gas is then fed into a converter where iron is used to help speed up the reaction and then cooled and stored for later use.

Why is Ammonia a good cleaner?

Some main reasons why people often want to use ammonia as a cleaner is because it easily gets out those pesky stains  from really oily or fatty foods. Most people also like using it because it doesn't leave streaks behind on glass or wood surfaces. Getting rid of  stains is mostly done through the ammonia reacting with the stains left over from the oily and fatty foods it basically breaks down the oily and fatty stains into soap that can be easily wiped away.

Negative Effects of Ammonia

Some reasons that you should be careful with Ammonia is that it can cause things like difficulty breathing, skin irritation, and severe coughing if you were to accidentally inhale, ingest or come into contact with ammonia. But don't worry! Most of the cleaners that you buy at your local shopping center or supermarket don't contain a strong enough ammonia concentration to hurt you (most of these are made at a 10%-15% concentration). But if the concentration is at 27% or higher then you should be very careful when handling it.

Environmental Problems with Ammonia

One main environmental issue with ammonia is that large amounts of it come from our wastewater and sewage treatment plants. These large amounts of ammonia can end up in larger bodies of water such as rivers, lakes and oceans. When so much ammonia ends up in our water system it can cause toxic effects on aquatic environments, animals and plant life.

Alternatives

Some easy alternatives that you can make at home are:

1) White vinegar mixed with water, tea tree oil, and all-purpose soap

            This is good for getting out stains but it does leave behind unwanted streaks on surfaces.

2) Baking soda and lavender oil

            This is a good alternative because lavender oil is said to have antibacterial properties.

Have fun getting those pesky stains out!