Detarring nightmare

Passataudi

Any tips on detaring a white car paint. Tried section of tar. Removed no problem but tar has rubbed into paint turing it cream in colour. Any tips

statto25

Passataudi wrote: »

Any tips on detaring a white car paint. Tried section of tar. Removed no problem but tar has rubbed into paint turing it cream in colour. Any tips

What did you use? A better product is probably needed or a clay bar will remove the left behind residue

Passataudi

statto25 wrote: »

What did you use? A better product is probably needed or a clay bar will remove the left behind residue

I used petrol on 1 spot and proper tar remover in another spot no difference, tar is getting rubbed into paint and no matter what i try its staying there.

Tried clay bar and buffing compound. Only makes my once white section a lovely shiny cleam colour 😳😳

statto25

Is this on panels or bumpers? How long did you let it dwell? You'll prob need to give it a machine polish to try and remove it but I'd be concerned it's gone beyond the clearcoat. Not an expert by any means so hopefully others will chime in

Passataudi

statto25 wrote: »

Is this on panels or bumpers? How long did you let it dwell? You'll prob need to give it a machine polish to try and remove it but I'd be concerned it's gone beyond the clearcoat. Not an expert by any means so hopefully others will chime in

Pannels. Just dabbed bit petrol on clean cloth then straight after with soap.and water. I always do a test spot so i did bottom of a door. Iv done plenty detaring but this is first time on white. Thankfully its my own yoke.

Gumbo

Did you do it today, in direct sunlight?

Passataudi

Gumbo wrote: »

Did you do it today, in direct sunlight?

In cool shed

MetzgerMeister

statto25 wrote: »

You'll prob need to give it a machine polish to try and remove it

Never put a machine polisher near a panel that has tar on it. The tar will be removed but will then be caught on the polishing pad and will inflict considerable damage to the paint.

OP - what tar remover did you use? A lot of the cheaper ones tend to flash off quite quickly so what I often do for stubborn tar is fold and soak a sheet of kitchen paper in tar remover and "stick" it onto the panel. You can leave it there a lot longer and it will be more effective than spraying tar remover directly onto the panel.

The best tar removers I've used are Gtechniq W7 and CarPro Tar-X.

PsychoPete

Sounds like it dried before you wiped it, some will flash dry fairly quickly. If you can keep it wet with product and work in small sections at a time. KKD Tartasic is gel based so clings for a while, makes life a bit easier

MetzgerMeister

Gel type tar removers can be a bit of a nightmare to remove the greasy residue.

PsychoPete

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Gel type tar removers can be a bit of a nightmare to remove the greasy residue.

That is true, I tend to spray the car down with surfex hd and rinse it off as I rewash the car after using fallout and tar remover anyway

MetzgerMeister

PsychoPete wrote: »

That is true, I tend to spray the car down with surfex hd and rinse it off as I rewash the car after using fallout and tar remover anyway

Good idea. Surfex HD is the best degreaser I've ever used. On tyres you don't even need to scrub, just spray on, leave to dwell and rinse off.

I've tested this by scrubbing one half of the tyre and it comes out the same as the side I didn't scrub.

PsychoPete

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Good idea. Surfex HD is the best degreaser I've ever used. On tyres you don't even need to scrub, just spray on, leave to dwell and rinse off.

I've tested this by scrubbing one half of the tyre and it comes out the same as the side I didn't scrub.

I do think surfex hd is one of the best products out there from a cost and versatility point a view. One product that you can use to clean interiors,carpet,tyres,wheel arches, engine bays and even a pre wash.

statto25

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Never put a machine polisher near a panel that has tar on it. The tar will be removed but will then be caught on the polishing pad and will inflict considerable damage to the paint.

OP - what tar remover did you use? A lot of the cheaper ones tend to flash off quite quickly so what I often do for stubborn tar is fold and soak a sheet of kitchen paper in tar remover and "stick" it onto the panel. You can leave it there a lot longer and it will be more effective than spraying tar remover directly onto the panel.

The best tar removers I've used are Gtechniq W7 and CarPro Tar-X.

Apologies, my advice was based on my presumption the tar had been removed but the detar had damaged the paint surface

Passataudi

Tried few more things today, eventually got it off but had to use G3 cutting compound i normally use an orbital polisher but had to go more aggressive with the rotating polisher, then polish and wax.

I use petrol everytime i detar maybe not best to use but for sure the quickest.

DuckSlice

Really need to give my car a de-tar, its black so i can get away with it for a while without doing it. at what point should i de-tar during the washing, is it after the snow foam rinse? I use Carpro hydro2 to wash so i presume before i use this anyway.

PsychoPete

I do a full pre wash and contact wash then move on to tar removal. I'd use a pure shampoo with no wax,hydrophobic properties etc like bilt hamber auto wash or gyeon bathe

DuckSlice

PsychoPete wrote: »

I do a full pre wash and contact wash then move on to tar removal. I'd use a pure shampoo with no wax,hydrophobic properties etc like bilt hamber auto wash or gyeon bathe

Would it be ok to use the bilt hamber snow foam for the contact wash?

PsychoPete

etxp wrote: »

Would it be ok to use the bilt hamber snow foam for the contact wash?

You probably could but you might risk causes swirls

MetzgerMeister

etxp wrote: »

Really need to give my car a de-tar, its black so i can get away with it for a while without doing it. at what point should i de-tar during the washing, is it after the snow foam rinse? I use Carpro hydro2 to wash so i presume before i use this anyway.

Do you mean CarPro Reset?

Tar should be done after the contact wash and those areas washed again.

Snow foam I don't think has the same lubrication properties as a dedicated car wash shampoo such as CarPro Reset or Gtechniq G Wash.

PsychoPete

I'd say they mean carpro hydrofoam

Gumbo

I try chemically remove contamination before any contact wash personally.
I try to avoid the contact until it’s as clean as possible.

So I’d pre wash with citrus pre wash. Then snow foam.
Then I’d iron x and then detar with some contact here in places of stubborn build up.

Loads of rinsing in between.

Then I move onto the shampoo where I’d be touching the car with a mitt.

easygoing39

Interesting process Gumbo.Do find the dirt may stop the iron x or tar remover from doing its job properly?

MetzgerMeister

Gumbo wrote: »

I try chemically remove contamination before any contact wash personally.
I try to avoid the contact until it’s as clean as possible.

So I’d pre wash with citrus pre wash. Then snow foam.
Then I’d iron x and then detar with some contact here in places of stubborn build up.

Loads of rinsing in between.

Then I move onto the shampoo where I’d be touching the car with a mitt.

You'll never get 100% of the dirt off a car with a contactless wash. With your method you still have dirt on the car when removing the tar which isn't ideal.

DuckSlice

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Do you mean CarPro Reset?

Tar should be done after the contact wash and those areas washed again.

Snow foam I don't think has the same lubrication properties as a dedicated car wash shampoo such as CarPro Reset or Gtechniq G Wash.

No its the foam as someone mentioned below, think the proper name is Hydro2?

Could i use some autoglym shampoo maybe for the wash before and after the de-tar? then spray foam the Hydro2 on and wash off?

Gumbo

easygoing39 wrote: »

Interesting process Gumbo.Do find the dirt may stop the iron x or tar remover from doing its job properly?

Not sure if the it would hinder the decontamination but I always do all the steps prior to hand washing. I suppose in my mind, it means I haven’t rubbed the car at all until wash stage.

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

You'll never get 100% of the dirt off a car with a contactless wash. With your method you still have dirt on the car when removing the tar which isn't ideal.

Agree. but I’ll always go through the contactless steps and then assess if I need to touch remove anything after the wash. De-tar, claying and decontamination process is usually only a once a year job so it’s not as if I do it weekly so I don’t mind the extra step or 2.

So if anything remaining after the wash down, I’d reapply the decontamination products before another rinse down.

My Process.

1. Wheels First.

Car
2. Citrus Pre-Wash.
3. Rinse (although you could apply snow foam straight on top here).
3. Snow Foam.
4. Rinse.
5. Iron X.
6. Rinse
7. Tar Remover.
8. Rinse.
9. Wash (First Contact)
10. Rinse
11. Now I check in detail for tar spots and I’d required repeats steps 5-8.
12. Clay
13. Machine Polish (I’m not a pro so a DA and Rupes Uno Protect is fine by me).
14. Let set for the 20 minutes and remove with P&S Beadmaker.

Now I’m always learning and always open to better products or process but said I’d outline my process. Obviously that’s not a weekly routine. Weekly may just involve pre wash, foam, rinse, wash and Beadmaker as a drying aid. Then then usually glass and dressing.

Cass

How would you guys rate Vasco tar remover?

I've been using it for a while now and find it the best so far. Its a spray and walk away product. By that i mean no scrubbing, agitating or contact needed. I've tried other products with varying degrees of success and some, even when in a shaded garage, tend to dry out.

It works within 15 to 35 minutes but is safe to leave on for longer periods if you want. Its a gel based product so after spraying the car is sticks so no drippings or "evaporating" away. My young lad's car was pretty badly covered in tar so i took it into the garage that night, sprayed the car, left it overnight and took it out the next morning. Contamination in places you didn't see before using the tar remover and a simple power wash removed everything.

Follow up with the usual washing/decontamination process (de-iron, multiple rinses, contact wash, clay baring, etc).

PsychoPete

I have a few litres of it but I haven't used it yet, must get my hands on a relatives car and see how it goes