TSP Tri-Sodium Phosphate - Certified SoftWash Roof Cleaning

AC Lockyer · Administrator

TSP Tri-Sodium Phosphate

Chris Madden · Lead Tech Certified

We use to use TSP in our roof mix when we first started.

But now we have Green Wash, and will never look back.

Chris

Josh Scavetta · SoftWash Systems Certified Applicator

i have never used it but i have heard of roof cleaners adding it to their mix like Chris said. doesn't it help with cleaning brick and stone?

Chris Madden · Lead Tech Certified

safe roof cleaning hartford wrote:
i have never used it but i have heard of roof cleaners adding it to their mix like Chris said. doesn't it help with cleaning brick and stone?

It is actually in the recommendation from ARMA for roof cleaning. It actually helps allot but it is very bad for the environment (banned for sale in

many states) and etches glass windows. It does help with masonry cleaning, and many paint contractors clean painted homes before repainting because it

etches the old paint for a better hold of the new paint.

Chris

Hank Timmermann · Junior Member

Waterdog,

It's still available in stores up here in the Poconos in local hardware and big box stores. We don't use it in our mix anymore but when we started we gave it a try. Never had any issues but we didn't push the envelope.

Hank

-- Edited by waxman18324 on Thursday 29th of November 2012 09:15:26 PM

Greg Nash · Freshmen Member

It deglosses paint why would you ever use it for cleaning. I can see using it for a paint prep but not just cleaning.

Jason Reider · Freshmen Member

I am pretty sure that it is banned in Pennsylvania because of environmental problems in the Chesapeake Bay. I never used it and probably never will.

Jason Reider · Freshmen Member

waxman18324 wrote:
Waterdog,
It's still available in stores up here in the Poconos in local hardware and big box stores. We don't use it in our mix anymore but when we started we gave it a try. Never had any issues but we didn't push the envelope.
Hank

-- Edited by waxman18324 on Thursday 29th of November 2012 09:15:26 PM

Thanks Hank. I can't find it in stores here. The only thing available is a TSP-substitute product that doesn't work the same. Maybe this is just a Susquehanna Valley thing because of the bay issues.

Hank Timmermann · Junior Member

Waterdog,

The Poconos are always behind on things compared to the rest of the state. biggrin

Hank

Ray Burke · Community Member

I've used it, and actually carry a small box on the truck for certain situations that we may run into in some commercial applications. I also feel that it has waaaaayyyy too many downsides to be used in a widespread manner. Only on the rarest of occasions do we break it out...for example, last week we had to hand scrub some caulk under a drive through portico to remove deisel soot/road grime.

If not used properly it can and will cause damage to property.

Bill Booz · Junior Member

The 'environmental problem' is that it causes algae to grow. This happens on top of still ponds and waterways and chokes oxygen from the water killing the fish. Using it in roof cleaning is another example of the horrible misinformation spread around the web. It does act to combat the mix acting as an accelerate, but etches the surfaces it touches and allows algae to grow back faster. The real trick many were using years ago was to mix borax in as well in the hopes that the tsp was etching some borax to the roof. In the end there is no scientific evidence or even good anecdotal evidence to support the claims that the borax etching works at all.

Every roof we sprayed with tsp grew algae back faster than when we stopped.

Bill Booz · Junior Member

TSP was originally used in agriculture to etch nitrogen to the leaves of the plants. Nitrogen just falls away when spread on its own, so the tsp acted like a glue to help lock the nitrogen to the plant, eventually the runoff into waterways caused the environmental impact. It was also used in almost all laundry detergents for many years.