Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
The authoritative public forum
for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Student Project: Which cleaning products contain phosphoric acid?
Q. I would like to know what cleaning products contain phosphoric acid because I am doing a project and it is required.
Melissa Sue [surname deleted for privacy by Editor]student - Steelton, Pennsylvania
2004
A. I hate to tell you this, but household cleaners do NOT contain phosphoric acid or other phosphates. This is because they generally create problems for the municipal sewage systems.
Industrial cleaners (and by this I mean cleaners used as a pretreatment for a later process, like plating or painting) may contain phosphoric acid. To determine this, you would need to look at material safety data sheets.
The most common phosphate used in cleaning is trisodium phosphate
⇦ this on
eBay
or
Amazon [affil links]
, generally known as TSP.
James Totter, CEF
- Tallahassee, Florida
2004
2004
A. Melissa, check out Loctite's naval jelly ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] . According to data at http://www.henkelcamsds.com/pdf/01-80276.pdf, it contains 25-30% phosphoric acid.
Weldon Scardino, P.E. (ret)A. I was under the same impression, Jim. And then I put Cascade Dishwashing Detergent into the dishwasher last night and noted that the label said it contained phosphates. 5-1/2 percent if I recall accurately.
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2004
A. I believe Coca Cola is supposed to contain phosphoric acid - it cleans up pennies a real treat.
Trevor Crichton
R&D practical scientist
Chesham, Bucks, UK
2004
A. There is a product called sparkle made by Buckeye
It has 36% phosphoric acid
It is an acid cleaner and can be found at any janitorial distributor that carries Buckeye
- Billings, Montana
October 7, 2008
A. Yes, some cleaning solutions do contain phosphoric acid. One that I am looking at right now is "Alpha HP" by Diversey Johnson. It is a bathroom disinfectant cleaner, sold in highly concentrated liquid form and is a hydrogen-peroxide based cleaner.
LANE CHAFFIN- TEMPLE, TEXAS, USA
April 27, 2010
Q. I heard that WD-40 ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] and Radiator Fluid contain Phosphoric Acid. Does anyone know what the %'s are in comparison to Coke?
And YES, "Coke" does contain Phosphoric Acid. though I DON'T know what the % is in comparison by volume to household cleaners and such. I'm doing research for a book so anything you can contribute will be most useful.^_^
Telara Sky- Pond, California
March 6, 2016
Q. I'm looking for something to clean my vintage tractor engine water galleries while the block is still in the tractor...any suggestions for a cleaner that has phosphoric acid in it which will eat rust?
Roland Karl- Grants Pass, Oregon USA
January 28, 2018
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