Ammonia

You can never have too much ammonia around the house. Not only is it useful to keep your stove polish sticking, the CWA Cookery Book, Tenth Edition includes it in a number of soap and cleaner recipes, as well as this recipe for bath salts so you can enjoy a nice relaxing hot ammonia bath after all that scrubbing.

Use 1 part of powdered ammonia to three parts of powdered borax and add a few drops of oil of lavender. Put a few teaspoonfuls in the water just when you are ready to get into your bath. This is very refreshing.

Household Hints recommends a piece of cotton wool soaked in ammonia for toothache, and Household Discoveries has this useful suggestion:

To test green wallpaper for the presence of arsenic in dangerous quantities, dip a sample of it in aqua ammonia. If arsenic is present, the paper will turn from green to blue.

In the event that you get a bit overwhelmed by all the ammonia, the Modern Household Encyclopedia offers this advice for ammonia poisoning:

Do not empty stomach, especially if severe. Give 1/2 glass of vinegar or juice or 4 lemons in equal amount of water; follow with 4 raw egg whites, or milk, or 1 cup olive oil, or castor oil, of flour and water, or other soothing liquids. Give stimulants – coffee or brandy – if necessary. Keep patient resting and warm.