Green Daily

Ammonia (NH₃) is one of the most common chemicals in the United States, used in both industry and households, and is an ingredient in many common cleaning products. About 80% of ammonia used by industry is used in agriculture as fertilizer, according to the New York State Department of Health. Common household cleaning products are made by adding ammonia gas to water and can be between 5 to 10% ammonia. The danger from ammonia comes from breathing in the ammonia gas as you are cleaning, which interacts immediately with your skin, eyes, mouth and respiratory tract. While the amount you have to breathe in to do serious damage might be very high, why not just avoid it entirely if you can?

And what's an eco-friendly alternative? You guessed it! Vinegar! White vinegar is 5% acetic acid, which is a weak acid, and is a natural bi-product of the fermentation of starches, in this case corn.

In place of ammonia-based cleaners, try vinegar with newspapers to clean your windows, specifically 2 tbs of white vinegar in a gallon of water. You can also use vinegar straight, in a spray bottle, to disinfect your countertops or other places around the house that need it. Here are tons of tips from Heinz for using vinegar around your home, including the kitchen, bathroom and laundry room.

Here's another great tip about avoiding ammonia-based cleaning sprays. You definitely want to avoid ammonia-based spray when cleaning up pet accidents. Urine has an ammonia-like odor, and cleaning the scene of the crime with an ammonia-based cleaner will only attract the pet back, to do more business there.