The posters here have convinced me that TSP is something I need to use. The searches I have done point me to TSP substitutes, even though the products have "TSP" in large letters on the bottle.
Where do you guys buy real TSP?
I buy it at Sherwin-Williams or Lowes, though they have more substitutes than real TSP.
I hear you can't buy it in California.
Shades of real Tide laundry detergent vs. the wimp version, or real Spic-and-Span versus the wimp version, decades ago. As a kid, I remember my uncle bootlegging huge cartons of Tide from PA to IN, whenever he came to visit. My mother didn't dislike trees and streams and stuff, but she said the phosphate-enhanced formula cleaned better.
-- aem sends...
On 1/24/2010 7:27 AM SteveBell spake thus:
Bullshit. I just saw it yesterday at OSH (Orchard Supply Hardware) when I went to pick up a bottle of charcoal lighter, which I wasn't sure whether it was banned here in CA or not (it isn't either, obviously). Also have seen it recently at Home Despot here.
Some of the stories about what's banned in Ka-lee-fohn-ia are wildly exaggerated.
I bought the real thing at Home Depot in the paint department twice in the past month, and I saw it there again today. But, if I do a search on the Home Depot website, and even enter my local store zip code, all it shows is TSP substitute.
Borg websites often only have a passing resemblance to what the store really carries. Not just HD, Lowes, etc, but Sams, Wally World, and most of the others I have had occasion to look on. Web site will be clueless on stuff I saw there the day before.
-- aem sends...
On 1/24/2010 3:42 PM mcp6453 top-posted thus:
Yes; one buys TSP as powder and dissolves it in water to use.
Yep. At Home Depot I bought Savogran brand TSP Trisodium Phosphate All Purpose Heavy Duty Cleaner. It's a red and white box, and it is a powder that you mix with water. I bought the 16 ounce size. The instructions say for heavy duty cleaning to mix 1/2 cup of TSP in 2 gallons of hot water. I used it to clean old caked on kitchen grease off laminate cabinets. It worked great.
I agree. Their websites are pathetic.
On 1/24/2010 4:02 PM Jay-T spake thus:
Sadly the same is true even for Ace Hardware, which franchise includes some of the best hardware stores I've shopped in. Apparently since they only act as an "umbrella" for the individually-owned stores, they haven't bothered to make their website worth even looking at. The people I've talked to at various Ace stores all tell me that the Ace website is a joke.
TSP (trisodium phosphate) wasn't banned - phosphate detergents were banned for non-commercial use as I understand it. I always thought it was nationwide, but apparently is by state. Last time I shopped for "TSP" (in Florida) the only kind I could find was "non-phosphate". So, stuff called "TSP" apparently doesn't neccessarilly mean the same thing in all places.
Counties around Tampa Bay are now banning sale of lawn fertilizer during summer rainy season due to heavy runoff and algae growth. Wasn't long ago that lawn watering was banned in Tampa due to drought and a busted reservoir. Some folks will have breakdowns if they can't fertilize 4 times a year, but there are still bugs to kill :o)
On 1/24/2010 4:55 PM snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.net spake thus:
Yes. Good thing, too. I remember in the bad old phosphate detergent days watching huge masses of foam drifting in the Chicago "Sanitary" canal near my home. Waterways were being killed all over the place before they banned the stuff.
What you saw was probably labeled "TSP substitute" or some such.
That's the cheapest way, generally, but it is also available as a pre-mixed liquid.
Florida is full/has many phosphate pits. Deep pits... plenty of large mouthed bass. No doubt one of those pits has a state record fish in it.
s than real TSP.
I used a little TSP in the laundry the other day. Wife saw the difference in the laundry.
Jimmie
My son can find largemouth in just about any body of water larger than a bathtub...small lakes in the city, etc. Hasn't tried any old mines in Florida, and having driven the area of some of them it would not be wise. Unless you bring about six strong, armed friends. Strange creatures living out in the backwoods in Florida.
than real TSP.
TSP will strip the natural oils from your skin if used on clothing, it is harsh. Plus there are more environmentally-friendly detergents.
I have seen products marketed in the same-shaped containers as TSP and they call these "TSP substitutes." Tide laundry detergent performed better than the "TSP substitutes."
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