How to Make Homemade Smelling Salts (for Lifting or the First Aid Kit)

Commercial smelling salts are cheap enough, but you can make an equally effective version at home from two inexpensive, stable salts: sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃) and ammonium chloride (NH₄Cl). This guide covers the chemistry, how to make and store the mix, and, just as important, how to use it safely.

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Why These Two Salts Work

Both compounds are stable on their own, but they're a natural pair:

• Sodium carbonate is the salt of a weak acid (carbonic acid) and a strong base (sodium hydroxide).
• Ammonium chloride is the salt of a weak base (ammonia) and a strong acid (hydrochloric acid).

As long as they're kept dry, the two solids sit together without reacting. Both are very soluble in water, though, so once moisture is introduced they dissolve and react:

Na₂CO₃ + 2 NH₄Cl → 2 NaCl + H₂O + CO₂↑ + 2 NH₃↑

The products are table salt, water, carbon dioxide gas and ammonia gas. The ammonia is the active ingredient.

How the "wake-up" effect works

When even a small amount of ammonia gas reaches your nose, it dissolves in the moisture of your mucous membranes and produces a sharp, intensely unpleasant sensation. The same happens in the moisture around your eyes. That irritation triggers an inhalation reflex and a jolt of alertness, which is the whole point of smelling salts.

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What You'll Need

Item	Notes
Anhydrous sodium carbonate	Sold as "soda ash" or pool pH-increaser. Must be dry/anhydrous (see below).
Ammonium chloride	Sold as "sal ammoniac", often in the soldering or metalwork section.
Kitchen scale	Accurate to 1 g or better.
Small airtight glass or plastic vial	Glass with a plastic screw cap is ideal. Avoid metal lids.
Nitrile gloves and safety glasses	Both salts irritate eyes and skin.
Dry spoon and mixing dish	Everything must be completely dry.

A note on "washing soda"

Household washing soda is usually sodium carbonate decahydrate, which contains a lot of water locked inside its crystals. If you use it as-is, your mix will start releasing ammonia in storage. You have two options:

1. Buy anhydrous soda ash instead, or
2. Dry it yourself: spread washing soda (or baking soda, which converts to sodium carbonate when heated) thinly on a baking tray and bake at around 200 °C for about an hour, then let it cool in a sealed container so it doesn't reabsorb moisture.

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The Ratio

The balanced equation gives the ideal molar ratio: 1 mole of sodium carbonate to 2 moles of ammonium chloride.

• Na₂CO₃: about 106 g/mol × 1 = 106 g
• NH₄Cl: about 53.5 g/mol × 2 = 107 g

Conveniently, that works out to almost exactly 1 : 1 by mass. You only need a few grams of each for a single vial, for example 5 g of each.

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Method

1. Work somewhere dry and ventilated. Avoid steamy kitchens and bathrooms. Put on gloves and safety glasses.
2. Check that everything is bone dry: the dish, spoon, vial and both salts.
3. Weigh out equal masses of anhydrous sodium carbonate and ammonium chloride.
4. Mix gently until uniform. If the salts are coarse, you can crush them first (separately) for a more even mix.
5. Transfer to the vial and seal immediately with an airtight, watertight cap.
6. Label it clearly: "Smelling salts – ammonia releasing – do not ingest – keep away from children."

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Activating and Using It

In normal room humidity, the moisture in the air is usually enough to start a slow release of ammonia once the vial is opened. If it's very dry, add one or two drops of water. That's all it takes. (Sweat or saliva will technically work too, but clean water is more hygienic and predictable.)

🥤 "But what about a few drops of Monster? Surely that's the pre-workout of smelling salts?"

We know the half-empty can on your gym bench is calling to you. Sadly, the chemistry refuses to cooperate. Energy drinks are acidic (citric acid is high on the label), and acid is the natural enemy of this reaction. It neutralises the sodium carbonate in a sad little fizz of CO₂, then grabs the ammonia and turns it back into odourless ammonium. You end up with a weaker vial and a sticky, sugary crust gluing the lid shut.

Your Monster belongs in you, not in the salts. Plain water does the job, and your vial won't smell faintly of Ultra White.

To use:

1. Open the vial and hold it about 10–15 cm (4–6 inches) below the nose. Never put it directly against the nostrils.
2. Take a short, normal sniff. Don't take a deep, sustained inhale.
3. Recap straight away.

Start further away than you think you need. Homemade mixes can be stronger or weaker than commercial ones depending on moisture and particle size.

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Safety: Read This Before Using

General

• Ammonia is a respiratory and eye irritant. Large doses or repeated deep inhalation can cause coughing, burning in the throat and lungs, and eye damage.
• Avoid if you have asthma or other respiratory conditions. Ammonia can trigger bronchospasm.
• Never mix with bleach or bleach-containing products. Ammonia plus bleach produces toxic chloramine gas.
• Don't eat it, and keep it away from children and pets. Clear labeling matters.
• Avoid brass or copper containers and lids. Ammonia corrodes them.
• If you get it in your eyes, rinse with clean running water for at least 15 minutes and seek medical advice.
• Make small batches. Even sealed, the mix slowly loses potency over time, and fresh batches are cheap.

Gym and powerlifting use

• Smelling salts give a short burst of alertness. They don't add strength, and they don't fix a lack of sleep, poor nutrition or overtraining.
• Don't use them to push through dizziness, headaches or concussion symptoms. Masking warning signs before a heavy lift is how people get hurt.
• Rules vary between federations and meets, so check your competition's regulations before bringing them to the platform.

First aid use

Smelling salts used to be standard in first aid kits, but modern first aid guidance generally discourages them for anyone who has fainted or is unconscious:

• The reflexive head jerk they cause can worsen a neck or spinal injury.
• They can hide symptoms that medical responders need to see.
• They do nothing to treat the cause of collapse.

For someone who has fainted, the recommended approach is to lay them down, raise their legs if there's no suspected injury, check breathing, and call emergency services if they don't recover quickly, are injured, or something seems wrong. If you're unsure, follow the guidance of a current first aid course.

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Quick Reference

Ingredients	Anhydrous sodium carbonate + ammonium chloride
Ratio	1 : 1 by mass (1 : 2 molar)
Activation	Air humidity or 1–2 drops of water
Use distance	10–15 cm below the nose, short sniff
Storage	Airtight, watertight, non-metal container, labeled, out of reach of kids
Don't	Mix with bleach, use with asthma, use on unconscious or injured people

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This article is for educational purposes. Handle all chemicals carefully and consult a medical professional if you have health concerns about using ammonia inhalants.