TSP Substitute?

Tom Wesenberg

Tom Wesenberg

Well-known member
Yesterday I drove to 5 different stores to find TSP. Lowes finally had it for $10 a box. The first 4 stores all had TSP substitute, and at least one container even said "NO PHOSPHATES". I bought this to make the mix for getting rid of ants.

Has anyone used the substitute?
And is the real stuff going the way of steam trains and Studebakers?:confused:
 
Tom,

Paint supply houses have the "real" TSP around here.


This is the article I used at the rental house last month. (15 pages or so GOOD one.)

Same sugar solution got rid of "pavement ants" around side door under sidewalk and under garage concrete slab.

Home Depot sprays just stop ants in area I sprayed and they just dug new tunnels a few feet away.

http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Ants

I used the water, sugar, TSP...

Borax is listed here to replace TSP.

If ants do not like the bait, reduce amount of TSP...

..
We used suggestions and found one ant trail going outside house.

We placed small puddles of sugar solution about 1/4 to 3/8ths inch across on counter near the trails. After few hours the sugar dries on top and ants crawl up on top of puddle and eat away.

Renew the puddles so they remain liquid.

We waited 3-4 days without cleaning up the scented ant trails remaining so ants could take poison back to nest.

Each day there were less ants showing up ... 3 or 4 days later they stopped showing up.
 
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I would be leery of a "no phosphate" substitute for Tri Sodium Phosphate". The phosphates are the reason it works as well as it does. Phosphates were the key ingredient in laundry soap up to the early 90's. When it was removed due to Enviromental concerns, various surfactants were added to try to make up for the work that the TSP did. None of them are as good, but the Phosphates were staying in the waste water and ending up in the environment creating algae booms.
 
Real TSP is great for cleaning. I use TSP and Bleach to clean siding and bricks.

My TSP was not bought in Minnesota so I do not know where to get it locally.

I would NOT use the fake stuff.

Marc
 
No, I didn't trust using the fake stuff either and that's why I kept looking until I found the real stuff at Lowes.

I've never used it before, but have heard it mentioned several times on Fordbarn, so I know it must be good for something on the Model A work.
 
I've always had good luck with the Terro brand stuff for ants. It brings them all in for about a day or two, then no ants. If that doesnt work old gas down there hill and a match always works!!!!!!
 
The Terro product is actually Borax. Not sure how TSP and Ants made it into the same conversation.:).
 
Tiny said:
I've always had good luck with the Terro brand stuff for ants. It brings them all in for about a day or two, then no ants. If that doesnt work old gas down there hill and a match always works!!!!!!
Click to expand...
DANGER, DANGER, Tiny, Uncle Allen did that in Texas to a underground RED WASP den!! Took 3 pickup loads of dirt to fill the CRATER, BUT he only had to replace 1 window glass in the front of the house, & OH! it knocked over his T.V. antenna! Bill W.
 
Here is another true story about TSP.

When I went in the Navy I went to Boot Camp in San Diego. I had to leave my 34 Ford Tudor at home. When I got my Boot leave I went home to Modesto, CA. I found my 34 Ford with a nice new paint job.

My mother had used TSP to clean and etch the old paint; she went to the Ford Dealer and obtained a gallon of dipping enamel in the Tan like the original color; she used a paint brush to paint the 34. You could not see any brush marks. She also repainted the wheels Poppy Red. The only thing she did not do was get the stripping in Poppy Red done.

Needless to say I still like the 34 Fords !!!!!!

Ron
 
The old ****& span was TSP. Don't know what's in it now. I do know there is TSP listed in the ingredients of General Mills cereals. Honey nuts and Oats cheerios is one I believe.
 
BILL WILLIAMSON said:
DANGER, DANGER, Tiny, Uncle Allen did that in Texas to a underground RED WASP den!! Took 3 pickup loads of dirt to fill the CRATER, BUT he only had to replace 1 window glass in the front of the house, & OH! it knocked over his T.V. antenna! Bill W.
Click to expand...

I think I would pay to see that!!!!!
 
Tiny said:
I think I would pay to see that!!!!!
Click to expand...
"THE REST OF THE STORY"---His beautiful wife encountered the nest of wasps while mowing with a rotary mower, Alan parked the mower over the hole, still running. Then took her to the hospital. She was stung unmercifully & spent time in the hospital.
Returning home, he was going to finish the lawn, instead, he poured a whole gallon of gas into the wasp hole, lit & threw a match, & "BOOOOOM":eek:!!!!
Bill W.
 
Diatomaceous earth ( get in pool stores; a fine silica, do not breath) will kill ants. Do not use on the ground if you have pets.
Orange oil (get at farm and garden stores; mix one oz per gallon and shake well, you are making an emulsion) will get them.
It doesn't take much of either of these to work. They both will get fire ants, too (none of those in MN).

They are way safer than the usual chemicals out there. They will be gone in a day or two. I use them both around the yard, but only orange oil where the dogs run.
Orange oil comes from orange peels, which we do not eat. Good thing because it is toxic, but organically so, meaning it will degrade easily
 
Its around if you look for it, usually at paint stores. The substitute does not prepare old paint for new paint as well as the real TSP.. I used to use it in the A radiator to cut out the grease from the water pump in cars that had been greased excessively. It worked really well. Now I use Cascade just because its easier to find.


Tom Wesenberg said:
No, I didn't trust using the fake stuff either and that's why I kept looking until I found the real stuff at Lowes.

I've never used it before, but have heard it mentioned several times on Fordbarn, so I know it must be good for something on the Model A work.
Click to expand...
 
There's a kazillion uses for TSP. I use it for everything except my teeth. Cleans scum from cooling systems, etches painted surfaces for good paint adhesion, prepares newly cleaned parts for painting, cleans bad oxidation from a neglected car, just before you polish it, when yo' old white motorhome has been stored for 27 months, wash it with TSP & it will look "NEW" again, mixed to a pancake batter consistancy, it is a slow, but safe paint stripper, cleans your crummy garage floor & driveway, it cleaned the bricks on the front of my house to look like new, makes BLACKWALL tires look new, don't know about WHITEWALLS, cuz I never owned any in my HOLE LIFE!!, mixed with warm water in a BIG coffee can, it cleans carbs very good, cleans the black crap around your fireplace, from when you burned CRAPPY wood, makes your BLACK countertop grout be WHITE again! It's a little tough on "sissy" hands, so's use them YALLER gloves! MR.CLEAN (Somebody, here, said it does away with ANTS, I'll try that one! Don't scrub yo' Dog:cool: with it, 'cause IT MIGHT BE BAD FUR THEM!:eek:)
 
You can also use straight Borax-the process is the same as using diatomaceous earth. The hard particles get in the the "joints of the ant's exoskeletons and into the air ways (spicules) and bring them to a halt. Within moderation, not harmful to consumption by pets/people.
 
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