Also, for the survival minded, this might be useful to stretch soap and get clothes clean without near as much work.
Interesting. I’ll look in the hardware section in Walmart.
We used to use TSP all the time at the silk screen shop in the 80’s. I was under the impression one could no longer get it, thanks to the tree huggers. I haven’t noticed it in the paint dept. of the hardware stores for a long time...but then again, I wasn’t lookin’. : )
Would it be available at the Home Depot? Or should I go to a more generic ‘hardware store’? When I do find it, how do you measure it out, quantity, etc?
I started mixing up good, old-fashioned TSP with my dish soap and now the dishes sparkle again.
I’ll be picking some up. I have only used it for cleaning my backyard deck.
Thanks! I’m doing the laundry today and will try it out. BTW- I’ve used Borax to boost the laundry also (very cheap) - do you have any info on that?
It is not cheap. I use it occasionally though not everytime. Be careful and get real TSP because they have replacements for it and it isn’t always very clear because TSP is the most noticable thing on the label.
Be careful that you don’t get the almost identical product “TSP-PF”. The PF means “phosphate free”. It’s like buying a car without the engine.
I use it for exterior cleaning with my power washer and it works great.
Also note, the dishwashing detergents like Cascade now don’t have phosphates because a few states now ban them. You can buy it with phosphates online at newegg.com.
There was an article a month or two ago, perhaps in the WSJ, about how people are complaining about their fancy dishwashers not getting the dishes clean. Care to guess why?
Consumer Reports will no longer rate top loading washing machines because with the current energy and water standards they no longer work period.
They removed phosphates from laundry detergent back in the 70’s I think. Then in early 2010, phosphates were removed from dish washing soap. The reason being is they cause algae blooms and low oxygen (eutrophication) in lakes.
You can still buy commercial dishwashing detergent on line with phosphates.
You can also by TSP at home improvement stores and hardware stores and add a little yourself.
bttt
Someone just discovered the wheel! Any paint store or lumber yard will carry it.
The reason it works is that it produces a very alkaline solution that helps break down oils and make them water soluble allowing them to be washed away.
Hey everybody!!! TSP! Get yer TSP!!!!!!
Thanks for posting this! Just the other day when I was doing laundry, I was complaining about how our clothes just don’t seem to get clean anymore. Now I know why. And it figures that government would be the geniuses behind it. I knew they messed with dishwasher detergent, but I didn’t know about the laundry soap.
I happen to have TSP on hand as well! I should probably stock up on that before they ban that as well. UGH!
I notice the tags that government-loving lefties added right under the article. They are so predictable.
Make sure that you get real trisodium phosphate and not the phosphate-free version in a similar box. You might not even be able to buy real TSP in some states. I’m just about out of my good dishwasher powder and the new stuff doesn’t have the phosphates, so I’ll be tossing in a quarter teaspoon with each load.
I occassionally post my TSP discovery here. Last September is when the phosphates were removed from all major brand dish soaps. For almost ten years, it had been banned in several states...and the makers of the soaps were tired of ‘boutique’ blends for different states. Seems they colluded a little; but, they agreed to a common stopping point last September.
I have very hard water; and, the difference was very noticeable. In addition to hard spots, the dishes seemed to have a film all over them. Research online led me to TSP (and also a bit of trivia about how dishwasher sales had spiked).
The TSP is very effective in my dishwasher. I am still on my first box (this stuff is very cheap and one box will probably last a year), which I got at Home Depot. You have to be careful, though. My understanding is that some states have actually banned TSP...and there is a ‘substitute’ on the market. The substitute is called ‘TSP’....make sure somewhere on the box is ‘Trisodium Phosphate’.
As a side note...you can also find phosphates in that giant mountain of bagged fertilizer in front of the Home Depot. If the phosphates in our laundry and dishwashers is causing problems, how long before plain old fertilizer becomes a controlled substance?
I’ve purchased true trisodium phosphate at Lowe’s(they only had TSP-PF at Menards) and I’ve purchased sodium tripolyphosphate online for 4.04 a pound. Even with shipping, it only came to 10.24.
bump
Great post!!! (Will TSP make my hair shiny and bouncy again?)
OK.., but you still have to flush twice!)
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