TSP is a a lot cheaper than my creosote cleaner, so would it work as well as the cleaner in my chimney?
MIKE CREEGAN, Somersworth, N.H. A. A short answer to a long question: Why not? Make yourself a guinea pig and try it. If it works, fine; if not, there is no harm done. One wonders just how much is the “main ingredient,” but it still is worth trying. Just don’t mix it with ammonia and/or bleach; there is no reason that you would, but it’s just a standard warning against mixing various materials. Mike Creegan of Somersworth, N.H., asked if he could use trisodium phosphate (TSP) to keep his flue clear of creosote, since the main ingredient of his powdered-type chimney cleaner cleaner was TSP. The latter is less epxensive, so why not, he asked. He uses a wood-burning stove regularly. The handyman answered, why not indeed. Even if it doesn’t work, no harm done. Not necessarily, said W. Troy Couch, vice president of Combustion Improvers Co. of Newport, N.H., makers of Anti-Creo-Soot, a creosote control for wood-burning stoves. “TSP is derived from phosphoric acid, and is therefore strongl
