[Jewelry making - Article 00982] - Re: [Orchid] TSP the same as trisodium phosphate?

[Peter W . Rowe]

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>              But reading the back labels with all its warnings of
>     wearing rubber gloves, and goggles, and that it contains:  sodium
>     meta-silicate ( I don't know what this is!)  I think this might not
>     be the right powder.  It says it is a all purpose heavy duty
>     cleaner.  Brand is LANDMARK, made in USA. Can someone tell me if
>     this is the right thing to make up the PRIPPS flux. Also, if so, is
>     it really that dangerous to use in my studio?? 

    Sharon, Sodium Metasilicate is NOT TSP.  It's a somewhat similar, in
    function, alkaline cleaning agent.  It will be equally fine if you
    plan to wash down your walls prior to painting them.  But it will NOT
    work if you plan to make Prips flux (note the spelling with only one
    final P) 

    As for safety in the workshop, c'mon, girl.  You know about safety
    warnings on boxes, don't you?  They have to protect themselves
    against every idiot with a lawyer on the planet.  Just because they
    suggest all that stuff doesn't mean the cleaner is some sort of WMD. 
     It IS quite alkaline, and if you leave your hands soaking in it for
    a while, you'll not like what it does to your skin.  make you look
    all old and wrinkly for a few days.  Might even be a bit irritating.
    Get it on especially tender skin, and it will definitely irritate. 
    But don't go overboard.  It's not all that much different from any
    other strong detergent, for which you might also want to wear dish
    washing gloves.    Other worries on the box is that if you spread the
    dry dust into the air, and breath it in, the alkali can burn the
    lungs.  Again, this is similar in risk to any number of other
    household cleaners.  So too is their worry that you'll splash the
    stuff in your eyes.   All in all, this isn't a childs toy.  But your
    toilet cleaners are a lot more dangerous than either this fake TSP,
    or the real stuff. 

    As to prips flux,  it's also not a childs toy.  All three chemicals
    in it are toxic.  What that means is that you should not drink it or
    spray it directly into your face.  It doesn't mean you have to get
    all paranoid about actually using it.  It's no worse than any other
    soldering flux in your shop, and a good deal gentler and safer than
    some of them.   A bit on your skin will not do any harm. 

    As to buying TSP, you might need a chemical supplier, if the ACE
    store doesn't have it.  Or try a more specialized store that sells
    house paint, if there are such where you are.  Preparing surfaces for
    painting is the single most common public use for the stuff.    
    Wherever you buy it, the ingredient must be trisodium phosphate, or
    if from a chemical supply, you could also buy disodium phosphate or
    monosodium phosphate.  Any of these three chemicals will work. Sodium
    metasilicate, as you can tell by the totally different name, is not
    related chemically, and though it works to clean the walls, it is
    not usable for prips flux. 

Peter Rowe


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