Removing tar from paint?

[Bobby Chapman]

Places I have worked, we always had dirty company vehicles. I would use lacquer thinner to get grease, grimm, and road tar off of the paint , then wax those parts again to be back shine and finish. Most factory paints can handle this . Always worked great especially door jams and such.

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[Oscarcat]

We have a 2022 Velocity Blue XLT.

A while ago we were driving through Detroit and they were resurfacing a couple of lanes on the highway. At our next stop, we noticed that tar had gotten on the front bumper, grill, front fenders (about halfway up the windshield), and the lower part of the front doors.

Right away we tried to start cleaning what we could get off. Right now, there’s still some on the front bumper and the lower part of the front fenders.

We have tried several basic ways to remove the, but do not know what else to use that will not damage the paint. Has anyone else experienced this or something similar? Any suggestions?

Apologies that I do not have any pictures for reference. I thought we took some at the time, but cannot find them at the moment.

WD 40 on a clean soft microfiber towel dissolves tar, gum etc. Depending on how heavy/thick the tar is, shake the can well, spray, spray some WD 40 on the microfiber towel and progressively remove the tar. Rotate the towel and add more WD 40. Wax the area.

 

[Oscarcat]

Places I have worked, we always had dirty company vehicles. I would use lacquer thinner to get grease, grimm, and road tar off of the paint , then wax those parts again to be back shine and finish. Most factory paints can handle this . Always worked great especially door jams and such.

I would NOT use lacquer thinner, rubbing alcohol, denatured alcohol on auto finishes. Paint thinner is an oil-based solvent that dissolves tar well but I prefer using WD 40.

 

[KenR]

WD-40 removes tar very quickly. I lay paper down on the ground below the area with tar to be cleaned. Spray large amounts of WD-40 on the tar and watch the tar slide off the paint. The WD-40 will leave a lite brown flim on the paint that will come off easy when you wash the truck. [ to be safe test WD-40 on your paint first ]

 

[Bobby Chapman]

I would NOT use lacquer thinner, rubbing alcohol, denatured alcohol on auto finishes. Paint thinner is an oil-based solvent that dissolves tar well but I prefer using WD 40.

Just try it in an inconspicuous place and you will see factory car finishes are very durable.

 

[bearmd]

We have a 2022 Velocity Blue XLT.

A while ago we were driving through Detroit and they were resurfacing a couple of lanes on the highway. At our next stop, we noticed that tar had gotten on the front bumper, grill, front fenders (about halfway up the windshield), and the lower part of the front doors.

Right away we tried to start cleaning what we could get off. Right now, there’s still some on the front bumper and the lower part of the front fenders.

We have tried several basic ways to remove the, but do not know what else to use that will not damage the paint. Has anyone else experienced this or something similar? Any suggestions?

Apologies that I do not have any pictures for reference. I thought we took some at the time, but cannot find them at the moment.

Mineral spirits has worked well in the past for me. Change the rag area often so that any solid debris in the tar doesn’t scratch the paint. It usually ‘melts’ the tar right off.

Rewax the surface because mineral spirits will also remove wax.

 

[Escapologist]

Just try it in an inconspicuous place and you will see factory car finishes are very durable.

If alcohol took paint off, they wouldn't let you use winter washer fluid.

 

[Phimosis]

Lacquer thinner will remove that no sweat

It also won't harm catalyzed paint

Brake fluid.

Personally, I’d use brake fluid. It removes tar from paint, even better than lacquer thinner does.

 

[Cancunbadlands]

Some WD40 or Goo Gone
Use a microfiber towel
Rinse, wash and wax after
Don't forget to wax

 

[Toddman45]

As someone else has already mentioned WD-40 works great.

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