# Smelling salts **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 1, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelling-salts/479507 "2009-01-01T21:36:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelling-salts/479507/21 "2009-01-03T02:58:03Z")
A google ad on this page is for this website: [http://www.isabellacatalog.com/prod.cfm/pgc/21300/sbc/21302/inv/12246/tid/708012905](http://www.isabellacatalog.com/prod.cfm/pgc/21300/sbc/21302/inv/12246/tid/708012905) > [@](#): > > The other day I was telling a friend how I survived some company meetings that felt as if they lasted for days. When I’d feel my brain begin to fade and my eyes begin to close, I found relief in a little brown bottle. Just a few inhalations from my trusty aromatherapeutic smelling salts invigorated me enough to focus for the rest of the meeting. > > Clarity ‘‘smelling salts’’ are blended just for us, using kosher sea salts and pure essential oils. It looks like it’s not ammonia, but maybe something similar to my trusty old Listerine. Anyone think it’s worth a shot? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelling-salts/479507/22 "2009-01-03T03:04:42Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > They tell you that inhaling directly is bad. They tell you there is no humanly way to tell if glassware is hot just by looking. Does everyone listen? No. I suppose he learned his lesson, though. Same goes for freshly soldered copper. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelling-salts/479507/23 "2009-01-03T22:34:42Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > Isn’t there a “laboratory grade” of liquid ammonia that is about a jillion times stronger than the regular grade? I The bottle labeled “ammonium hydroxide” in my chemical cabinet at work/school is much stronger than the stuff used for diluting and cleaning at home. I’ve poured it in an open exterior doorway for kids and still had them complaining as they held their beakers at arm’s length. Oh, someone mentioned glacial acetic acid (pure vinegar to the rest of you, not that 5% stuff you get at the grocery). I didn’t seat my reflux tube correctly in my apparatus setup in organic chem lab, and the fumes were so strong through the lab (I was heating this strongly) that everyone walked out until I fixed it, then stayed a few minutes longer with the doors open to the outside. Ick. ---
**Author:** ![Properties\_of\_Iron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7cd45c/32.png) [@Properties\_of\_Iron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Properties_of_Iron)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelling-salts/479507/24 "2009-01-03T23:13:55Z")
> [@GameHat](#): > > I’ve had two experiences that have taught me (the hard way) to “waft” > > One was finding a seemingly clean plastic hand pump in the pilot plant. As I picked it up, I noticed a drop of liquid on the tip. “Hmm,” thinks I. “I wonder what this pump was used for?” So I put the wand tip directly under my nose and inhale deeply. Mistake. The pump had been used for [Glacial Acetic Acid](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacial_acetic_acid). I got weak-kneed and dizzy, plus my lungs burnt for the rest of the day. > > . I don’t want to start a new thread about it, but if anyone knows, is there a time when one would use ethanoic acid over acetic acid as far as word usage goes? Is one more common? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelling-salts/479507.md?page=1)