Dawn is our favorite for cutting oil. Here is an interesting article about Dawn’s ability to remove oil: Why Dawn Is The Bird Cleanser Of Choice For Oil Spills : NPR. It is also available in audio.
We use Dawn all the time because it does cut oil, grease and smoke.
Hey Theo…
This is better…
Dange / Showing the Range
Cool, a twist on the soap wars- dawn vs. tsp. I’ve never tried tsp, but I know some swear by it as fiercely as others to do dish detergent or GG.
I use to use TSP a while back, but now Palmolive or GG3, a customer once saw that I had changed my water bucket, (route work) I started cleaning his windows and made a comment about “I thought you just changed your water, is that dirty water? Why don’t I see suds”. I think that some want to see suds to give the illusion that their windows are getting clean.
Howdy Donny,
You know I can relate with that . I had a customer once ,WHO when I came in with a fresh bucket of clean water she wanted me to use her water. She said she didn’t like water from somewhere else…Also she wanted me to use her dish soap only.
Then all her up stair windows were French window frame that they all could be done from the inside which is way simpler and safer. She didn’t want me to do it from the inside, and said I can do a better job from the ladder, she insisted !
Pure analness can cause real problems if you let it !
Dange
Hey Dan…How you doing ?
Why not buy a small box and give it a try…It won’t hurt and you’ll see things from another perspective. Try it !
Dangerous Dave
Hi Dangemeister, I might just do that!
Just a tip for TSP - It can carode metal. A competitor of mine used to use it as their preferred cleaning soap until they noticed that it was rusting their truck beds out. Very hard on the hands too.
Steve
There are many reasons why (almost) no one uses TSP any more. It is outdated and has a lot more cons than pros and there are much safer and more advanced alternatives.
To each his own, but be careful!
Good morning Thad…
So have you ever used TSP ?
Give us some of the many reason why almost no one uses TSP anymore.
Give us some of the cons for TSP.
Give some of the pros for using TSP.
What is unsafe about TSP ? Is ammonia much safer alternative then TSP ? (as I read other clearners highly use on another forum).
What is it that one needs to be careful for ?
I believe if you never have tried TSP (have you ?) that if you gave it a fair shot you’d be quite impressed with its ability to clean and its afford-ability !
I do agree with," to each their own" but that would fall in line with personal preference and not the facts about TSP !
DANGEROUS DAVE
To each his/her own what ever makes you a better window cleaner. I use Dawn. when I started in the early 80’s I was told to use joy, not knowing any better it worked ok. I have used and experimented with all the brands of soap even from the bathroom dispenser’s out of desperation because I didn’t have soap or money. I’ve tried Glass Gleam and some of the other types of window cleaning products out there, my experience using TSP was not good (I tried it on several different occasions) it made my tools, ladders & metal window frames very slippery and hard to keep a firm grip on them, when rappelling on the side of a building with people walking under you (with warning signs and tape people still walk under you) it can be very unsafe. It never cleaned the glass any better for me or any one in the crew. I’m not saying it didn’t clean the glass it just wasn’t enough of a difference to justify using it in that situation. I prefer Dawn because its easily available it removes greasy finger prints it puts a little glide on the glass and you can get it in a variety of aromas that some customers find pleasing
No, I haven’t used tsp to clean windows. I only started a few years ago and there were safer, better alternatives available.
There was a fad going around to use it in your roof cleaning mix but I never did because I heard the horror stories of ruined paint and windows from not rinsing it fast enough and well enough.
I googled trisodium phosphate and this was a top result:
TSP (Trisodium Phosphate) Usage Information on the Natural Handyman home repair and do it yourself website
“It may be used on inside surfaces also, but try to mask all surfaces except the one you want to clean. It can damage many metal and painted surfaces, and can stain woods. It is not recommended for use on glass, either, since it will leave a filmy residue.”
also
"PRECAUTIONS AND WARNINGS…
TSP is a strong base and can cause severe eye damage and can burn unprotected skin.
Wear suitable clothing and eye protection. Keep away from skin and out of gloves.
Any foliage near where TSP is to be used should be soaked with plain water prior to the application of TSP, and rinsed down afterward. Be sure to read and follow all warnings on the product’s packaging.
TSP is not recommended for cleaning in bathrooms… TSP can cause staining to metals such as shower doors, chromed drains and plumbing fixtures, and can also etch the glazing on ceramic tile if left in contact too long. It can also attack the grout… it is an ingredient in products used to remove dried grout from tile surfaces in new installations."
Thanks for the tip but I’ll pass. GG3 isn’t that expensive.
Or a GG#4 squeeze bottle filled with Dawn…
If you google MSDS for Dawn, It says that no gloves are required during use. Thats enough for me 
Steve
I remember using TSP years ago to remove stains on stucco surfaces. It really worked well.
For me it’s GG4 or Palmolive. I used to use dawn but I found the Palmolive had a better smell to it.
Palmolive tough on grease. soft on hands:)
All you can find here are TSP substitutes. I asked Lowe’s once, before I knew better, why they didn’t carry the real deal. The paint guy told me it was too much of a liability for them, people not using it correctly.
I have some left over from a paint prep. It will etch the crap out of painted surfaces.
For a while, the Florida EPA was severely restricting the use of TSP because they believe the phosphates were causing algea blooms and Hydrilla issues in the waters. I am not positive, but I believe that all soaps, including/especially laundry detergents had to remove TSP and the phosphates from their formulas. I have used TSP before. It serves a purpose. I keep some around for when I think it will be the right tool. I don’t use it every day
I keep a gallon of CC 550, I might have used a quart last year
According to Wiki, your info is right. See below:
Environmental effects See also: Cleaning products and the environment
TSP was once the major component of laundry and dishwashing detergents. However, the phosphate contained in these products was not removed from wastewater during treatment and was then subsequently discharged into watersheds and larger bodies of water. There, phosphate was often the limiting agent for waterborne plant life, and the excess caused algal blooms and subsequent eutrophication of lakes and estuaries. In the United States, the Clean Water Act severely limited the use of phosphates in general, and trisodium phosphate in particular, in consumer cleaning products.
Products sold as TSP substitute, containing soda ash and zeolites, are promoted as a direct substitute. However, sodium carbonate is not as strongly basic as trisodium phosphate, making it less effective in demanding applications. Zeolites are added to laundry detergents as bulking agents that rapidly break down in water and are essentially nonpolluting. Even cleaning products labeled as TSP may contain other ingredients as well, and may, in fact, be less than half trisodium phosphate.
Steve
Steve-o… In respect to your wiki point it wasn’t from waste water, that may have had about 10% (my guess ) of an effect on lakes estuaries and bays,watersheds such as Chesapeake Bay. The main cause for the algae bloom in these water areas was from fertilizer that farmers were using to enhance their corps.
The watered farm land that was fertilized with this product seeped into the ground water or seeped into the estuaries and lakes and bays, watersheds !
You see Phosphates are a mineral that enhances plant growth so farmer of old at least up to the 70’s would use it to greatly grow their corps which it did and then affected the water area around them.
Phosphate is a good if used properly, I use it in an organic garden that I’m part of, along with other natural fertilizers,like nitrogen, lime, rock powder, gypsum, pot-ash…
Chesapeake Bay was a big news story on this…You see I’m 54 and I lived it, I remember the problem that was caused by the years of over fertilizing, Chesapeake Bay was almost a dead zone. Because the farmers were regulated, today Chesapeake has made a come back ! We are talking about mass over fertilization, Chesapeake Bay is a big area that borders many states ! ( not a bucket of water with 2 table spoons )
Wiki is cool I go to it a lot but it is sometimes incomplete, go to the library and check out the documented facts ! Not everything is on the internet, such as life experiences by those who have lived them.
Now today the EPA is trying to regulate everything to an over max and they’ll end up regulating our flatulence to avoid green-house affects ! Now I’m being silly but the epa is a good thing but they over regulate, under regulate, don’t regulate, properly regulate so and so forth !
Also today they are controlling dish washer detergent to the point that it does not degrease the dishes in the dish washer !
Phosphate is not a chemical it is a natural inorganic mineral and anything over used or excessively used can create problems. That is a given over watering creates floods, drinking 5 gallons of water in a 1/2 hour will kill you , but water is a life giving substance. We need water.
Dange
I saw it on the Wikipedia website and in The National Enquirer magazine so it has to be true. By the way, whats a library?
