Homebase Household Ammonia (Uk)

[Katch]

Just thought I'd share my findings.

Homebase sell a 9.5% Ammonia the appears to be free of any other substance other than water. I've seen some posts from people that think it may contain some surfacant or soap etc as it does foam a tiny bit when shaken.

In the smallest of the small print it says users can contact challs.com for ingredient lists and advice. Well I emailed them and got the data sheet. I can confirm it is nothing but ammonia and water; so safe for cycling.

 

[waterdrop]

That's very interesting Kstch. This is good information to know in that we've kind of settled in to just saying Boots lately as the first product that comes to mind for the UK, but we know there may be plenty of members who might have a Homebase store closer to them (not that I've actually ever even laid eyes on either of these stores, much less would have any idea of how common they were, sitting here in North Carolina, lol).

I often try to describe the right type of ammonia as looking just like water would look if shaken lightly, just a few larger type bubbles for 2 or 3 seconds. This is based on me shaking my own local brand of household ammonia that worked for me and also shaking the Ace Hardware ammonia which has worked for others here in the USA. It might be interesting if we knew the product could still be correct (just ammonia and water) but might produce a little of what looks like foam. I suppose if you shake water hard enough it might foam a little too? It would be a shame if we've caused people to rule out a perfectly acceptable product just based on worrying about a little foam incorrectly. It could all come down to how hard people shake things or the words we use to describe what we see.

I'd like to hear what you and anyone else thinks about this.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Twinklecaz]

That's a relief, that's what I used to cycle.

and WD - you'd prob see a Boots quicker than you'd see a Homebase but that's because Boots started out (and still is aswell)as a chemist but over the years has grown. So you'll find great big huge Boots stores (where I guess you'd get the Ammonia) but also medium-tiny ones. You'd struggle to find a UK high Street without a Boots. Homebase is a bigger DIY store that you don't usually see in town centres but most of them are big so you'd prob find Ammonia in most if not all. So I think a lot of people may end up using Homebase coz their local Boots in tiny.

God knows why I just bothered to type all that out lol.

 

[waterdrop]

I'm glad you typed it all out Caz. It makes the whole interaction more of a conversation. Conversation, like letters and books, enriches life in a way that is deeper than short goal-direct interactions. To the extent that we all allow our lives to be fractured into smaller and smaller bits by cellphones and computers and television and our own impatience, we may help businesses use us more productively, but in some sense I think we hurry ourselves on through life faster than does us the most good ultimately, don't you think?

When I chat with you UK folks on here I envision snippets of my own travels through the island and sometimes my interactions even have some of the good feelings of travel. Its fun.
Some day I will probably get a kick out of stepping foot into one of these stores .

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

You did exactly the right thing Caz. In the US a high street would be called Main street as a colloquial term. A Sainsburys here would also be called something different, maybe even Safeway. A store much like your Boots might be called Walgreens. I have been to the UK for short visits and do recognize some of the store names, much as I would recognize a french chain store name after I spent some time there. Someone I saw on TV a couple of days ago said things very well for me. She said, in a strong Aussie accent, that diversity means variety. I could not express it better. We are members here from all over the world and the more detail we get from each other, the better we will understand the other person's challenges and advantages in fish keeping. That means that you can even notice that we here in the US spell things like colour all wrong but know that it is our local spelling. When I lived in Canada, I spelled that word as if I was in the UK. When I moved to the US, I had to learn all over again how to spell. Learning and growing in a diverse community like ours here is a benefit of us all being interested in similar things like our fish. The fish know nothing about borders or even the societies we live in. They only know their water and the care they receive.

 

[Katch]

This thread warms my heart! lol.
All this from a bottle of stinky water!

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, perhaps we've gone all misty from sniffing it

 

[OldMan47]

Stinky water is a major focus for us here in the new tank area. There are more questions about that water than about most other topics, or so it seems to me. WD is a fully functional expert in the area and I have found no situation yet where I would not support his posts. Once in a great while I find that I think I have something to add that he has not addressed but disagreements between us are almost non-existent. I found the basic idea that Twinklecaz put forth as worthy of comment although it diverged from the original topic we are addressing here.