What is tsp - we also have stinky brick walls from cigarette smoke which gets worse in humid weather..?

Question

we also have small children and the smell is driving us bonkers

Answer 1

TSP Tri-sodium phosphate is NOT safe, it must be handled with care and precautions.  You must wear rubber gloves or else your hands will develop severe "dish-pan hands" wrinkling to the point of your skin cracking open and bleeding !!!  You should also wear eye protection to prevent tiny droplets of the solution splattering into your eyes, and make sure your TSP solution doesn't go where you don't want to cause damage,  it will raise the grain of wood on wooden surfaces, and it could damage paint too and other finishes too, including any treated brass.  

Some processed food manufacturers put very tiny amounts of TSP in foods, like Cheerios and some other processed cereals, (READ YOUR INGREDIENTS !) , and just because the put it there doesn't necessarily mean its safe !  It causes some degree of damage to your stomach and intestinal lining, it causes me and some others I know "acid reflux" or heart burn.  I've never had that in my life except when I eat Cheerios or foods with TSP in them.  Its advisable to choose foods that do not contain Tri-sodium phosphate or other versions of sodium phosphates.    I tell you, the chemical companies love to make you sick and then you need different chemicals (peptobismal or others) to deal with it, all the while, with all their ads blaming YOU for having some kind of disease.  Chemicals in foods are making people sick, and its not your fault for having heartburn unless you don't choose your foods without chemicals like TSP.  If you take things to hide the symptoms and continue taking no-good chemicals, you're damaging your body in the long run, while its trying to tell you something important !!!  Listen to your body's signals, not just buy more chemicals because the chemical industry says so.

You could also use plain laundry detergent solution with water to clean your bricks, and get same or better results, without too extreme of the safety hazzards.  That might even smell better too.

Answer 2

trisodium phosphate is a heavy duty cleaner, use 1/4 cup per 2 gallons of water for general cleaning but be sure to wear latex gloves .

Answer 3

TSP is a powdered cleaner.  It's strong.  It's TriSodium Phosphate.  I purchase it at the local hardware store

Answer 4

Trisodium phosphate is a chemical used as an abrasive cleaner. It has been used in everything from  laundry detergent to edible items, so it's safe. If you have TSP in a box or container used for cleaning, it may be as little as 50% trisodium phosphate or use a substitute instead, and so basically I can't tell you what it really is, just that it is better to use pure trisodium phosphate and scrub with water, making sure you are wearing gloves. It should work great for cigarette smoke but is not necessary.  If you have it... might as well use it and I am anti-chemical for the most part, but TSP is o.k. in my book, so long as trisodium phosphate or sodium carbonate are the main active ingredients:-)