WD 40

cena

Anyone ever try WD 40 to remove tar off a car.

Is it harmful to the paint?

dr.fuzzenstein

White spirit all day long, try it out.
I tried WD40, paint thinner, butter, olive oil. petrol and white spirit.
White spirit was by a wide margin better than any of the others. The tar just came off with little to no effort, all the others will also require a very large tub of elbowgrease.
Neither took the paint off and the white spirit made it better, i.e. when you ran your fingernails (carefully) across the paint, they would glide rather than drag.
There are specialised products for tar, no experience with any of them.

clintondaly

I have always used WD40,about 10 to 15 mins before washing i spray along the bottom half of car and wipe with a damp rag before starting the wash.
There is specific tar removers on the market though.

Gazzmonkey

I found Holts tar remover to be very good....

It turns the tar into a soft jelly substance that just wipes off.

Noccy_Mondy

I used holts, but be sure to do a panel at a tine, then wash it off. I made the mistake of spraying the whole car. Arms were wore off me trying to scrub it off, as it had dried in.

richj

Try Coca Cola - You will be surprised at the results and it is completely harmless to the paint.

(Makes you wonder what it does to your inside though!!)

woody33

Coca Cola contains phosphoric acid, an ingredient in rust converter.......

randy hickey

Coke ate my hamster.

toastedpickles

randy hickey wrote: »

Coke ate my hamster.

Coke ate my hookers

pa990

The trick is to keep your paintwork extremely well waxed.
so that when tar spots occur, they will be sitting on the wax rather than on the paint, so that the use of detergents/chemicals will be eating thru the wax rather than the paintwork.

In the past to remove tar, i've thoroughly washed the car, applied either Holts tar remover or petrol to one section at a time, clean that section of tar, wash it, then repeat with each other section.

When the whole car has been cleaned of tar, give it a good wash, followed by clay bar, another wash, and then polish and wax.

Just be prepared to drink lots of tea between stages

toastedpickles wrote: »

Coke ate my hookers

Hookers ate my coke

listermint

I only ever use 'Tardus' (end thread)



:cool:

Stallingrad

Holts Tar remover has to be the worse tar remover I've ever used.

Tardis FTW.

dr.fuzzenstein

No love for white spirits? Have used petrol and wd40 and found them useless in comparison.
And everyone knows that Freddie Starr ate my hamster.

tossy

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

No love for white spirits? Have used petrol and wd40 and found them useless in comparison.
And everyone knows that Freddie Starr ate my hamster.

I only use white spirits when i'm painting at home and want to clean my brushes over clean off a bit of over painting on skirting etc, why would i put this near the paint on my car ?

biko

cena wrote: »

Anyone ever try WD 40 to remove tar off a car.

Is it harmful to the paint?

Yes

No

dr.fuzzenstein

tossy wrote: »

I only use white spirits when i'm painting at home and want to clean my brushes over clean off a bit of over painting on skirting etc, why would i put this near the paint on my car ?

Because it cannot dissolve lacquer or paint on a car, does dissolve tar quite nicely, does not turn your hands into those of a corpse and actually leaves the paint quite smooth.
I wouldn't use it every week, but for every now and then detarring it's great.
Lots of people actually do:
http://www.scoobynet.com/car-care-380/971715-using-white-spirit-as-a-paint-work-cleanser.html
http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/archive/index.php/t-39438.html
http://www.astraownersclub.com/vb/showthread.php/660125-Will-White-Spirit-Hurt-My-Car-Lol
http://www.expressvaleting.com/faqs.html (look for road tar at the end)
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=6847180

And so on, I could post hundreds of links here.