When is ammonia worth using, and how do I use it safely?

Household ammonia is a dilute solution of ammonia in water, under 3 percent in one maker's product and 3 to 5 percent in another's, with a pH around 10 to 11.5. It is an alkali that loosens grease and grime and evaporates without residue, which suits glass and general cleaning. It is worth using when you have greasy film to cut, good ventilation and no bleach anywhere in the cleaning routine. It is never worth using in a small closed room, around anything containing bleach, or in a toilet or litter area where it can meet bleach. This page covers clear and sudsy ammonia, the UF/IFAS everyday cleaner as published, fumes and storage.

Two makers' sheets for household ammonia

Two manufacturer sheets describe household ammonia:

The Church & Dwight sheet's hazard statements are blunt: ammonia "may cause immediate severe pain, closure of eyelids, and corneal injury," and "inhalation of ammonia vapors may cause respiratory irritation and pulmonary edema" [1]. Pulmonary edema means fluid in the lungs. Both sheets treat the eyes and lungs as the parts at risk.

Clear or sudsy

Clear ammonia is ammonia and water. Sudsy (or "cloudy") ammonia adds a foaming cleaning agent, as the name says; the Parsons' sheet covers the clear, scented and sudsy versions in one document and lists only ammonium hydroxide as the hazardous ingredient [1].

Choose by job:

• Glass, mirrors and chrome: clear. Suds leave something to wipe off.
• Greasy range hoods, grimy floors and walls: sudsy, or clear with a little detergent as in the recipe below.
• Anything you will also treat with bleach in the same session: neither. Pick one product for the job.

The UF/IFAS everyday cleaner, as published

UF/IFAS Extension publishes an ammonia general cleaner in FCS3319. These are its words:

Everyday Household Cleaner "2 tablespoons of liquid detergent/soap" "2 tablespoons of ammonia" "1 quart of water" "Use for all general cleaning jobs." [3]

Warning set beside this recipe (ours, not part of the UF/IFAS recipe): Never use this cleaner with, before or after any product containing bleach, including bleach toilet cleaners, mildew sprays and "with bleach" dish or bathroom products. Bleach and ammonia together release toxic chloramine vapors. Label the bottle "Contains ammonia. Never mix with bleach." Use it only with a window open or a fan running.

UF/IFAS's general safety section does carry the rule, "NEVER mix bleach with ammonia, vinegar, rubbing alcohol, or other household cleaners," and warns that "Mixing bleach with ammonia or vinegar will create toxic fumes" [3]. It is not printed next to the recipe, which is why the warning above is set beside it here.

Add nothing else to this bottle: no vinegar, which neutralizes the ammonia, and no bleach, ever.

Where ammonia hides

NMSU tells readers to check labels for ammonia in glass, multipurpose and oven cleaners [4]. Stale urine in litter boxes, diaper pails and unflushed toilets smells of ammonia too. No agency source read for this page measured how much gas bleach forms with it, but the smell is reason enough not to add bleach. The bleach and ammonia page explains the chemistry and symptoms, and the hidden ingredients page explains how to read a label and find an SDS.

If you would rather not keep ammonia at all, NMSU gives a substitute for ammonia glass cleaners: 1/4 cup vinegar in 1 quart of water [4].

What ammonia must never be mixed with

The Church & Dwight sheet's own words: "Do not mix with other household or industrial chemicals such as bleach, toilet bowl cleaners, wall or tile cleaners" [1].

Fumes and ventilation

The sharp smell of ammonia is the vapor. The workplace limits on the Church & Dwight sheet give a sense of scale: OSHA's permissible limit is 50 ppm averaged over 8 hours, ACGIH recommends 25 ppm, and both set a short-term limit of 35 ppm [1]. Treat the smell as your cue to get more air moving.

Before you start:

1. Open a window or run an exhaust fan, as NC Extension advises for any strong cleaner [5].
2. Use gloves; add goggles for anything above shoulder height. NC Extension recommends goggles "when using a strong cleaner" [5].
3. Never work in a closed bathroom or closet with an open bottle.
4. Take breaks in fresh air if your eyes water or your throat stings.

If someone breathes enough to cough, wheeze or feel chest tightness, move them to fresh air at once [1]. For eyes: "Flush for at least 15 minutes. Get immediate medical attention" [1]. For swallowing: do not induce vomiting and seek medical attention immediately [1]. Call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 [6], and call 911 if someone has trouble breathing. Poison Control's first aid steps are on the exposure first aid page.

Storing ammonia

The Church & Dwight sheet: "Store away from incompatible materials and excessive heat" [1]. Columbus Chemical: "Store in cool, dry well ventilated area" [2]. Keep it:

• in its original bottle, capped tight;
• on a different shelf from bleach and acid cleaners, so a leak cannot combine them;
• out of a hot garage, where heat drives off vapor;
• labeled in any spray bottle you fill from it, and never in a food or drink container.

The storing cleaners at home page covers separating products in a cupboard.

Deciding whether ammonia earns a place

If your home cleaning already relies on bleach for toilets or mildew, the simplest safe choice is to keep ammonia out of the house and use the vinegar or alcohol window recipes on the glass cleaner page. If you do keep it, keep it for greasy jobs with the windows open, and label everything it goes into.

References

1. Church & Dwight Co., Inc., Material Safety Data Sheet: Household Ammonia (Parsons', Bo Peep), MSDS-118, issued October 22, 2007. https://whatsinproducts.com/app/webroot/files/brands_pdf/10189_03005037%20MSDS%20Parsons%20Ammonia.pdf
2. Columbus Chemical Industries, Inc., Safety Data Sheet: Ammonia (Household), revision 2, June 20, 2013. https://www.wardsci.com/www.wardsci.com/images/Ammonia_(Household).pdf
3. University of Florida IFAS Extension, Griffin and Cantrell, Homemade Household Cleaners (FCS3319), Release Date October 7, 2025. https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/FY1449
4. New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension, Griffiths and Koukel, Green Alternatives to Toxic Household Products and Hazardous Waste (G-313), revised February 2019. https://pubs.nmsu.edu/_g/G313/index.html
5. N.C. Cooperative Extension, Yancey County Center, Maness, Health Risks of Mixing Household Cleaners, November 1, 2024. https://yancey.ces.ncsu.edu/2024/11/dontmix/
6. Poison Control (National Capital Poison Center), Poison Statistics: National Data 2024. https://www.poison.org/poison-statistics