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General => Detailing => Topic started by: Brenbo on 28 October 2019, 08:29
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I attempted to wash my car this weekend and discovered the car was absolutely plastered in Tar spots. What I mean by plastered is it looks like someone got a spary gun and sprayed tar all over the front bumper, bonnet, windscreen, headlights, grill right side drivers wheel, front pretoria wheels, front right side wing, and right side doors/handles. What was gonna be a 1.5 hour car cleaning routine ended up becoming well over 4 hours and me giving up half way as I could not get rid of all the tar spots. More than half the surfaces are still caked in 1000's of stubborn tar spots. I have not seen as many tar spots on a car in my life.
What do you guys recommend for getting rid of the tar spots from all surfaces including paintwork, gloss black plastics, clear plastic of the headlights and glass?
I have ordered Valet Pro Citrus Tar and Glue Remover... But would you recommend something different?
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Welcome to the world of light coloured cars!!
You might be better asking this in the detailing section but in my experience you'll need a decent glue and tar remover, lots of microfibres and a bucket full of patience!! A clay bar and lube might be a good investment too! And in the future maybe try and avoid newly laid roads, especially on hot days! (don't think you'll need to worry about the latter for a while though! :cry:)
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Unfortunately I think the weather was the opposite to what you suggest. It was blowing a gale and heavy rain. As a side note, I have owned white cars for over 15 years and this is the first time I have experienced anything to this degree. Many thanks for confirming what I thought might be the case of lots of hard work and stubborn determination to remove the tar from the surfaces of my car. Roll on the next dry spell so I can get out and clean my car again.
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Brenbo, As above.
Get a good tar remover such as Autosmart Tardis or similar (there are a few good ones), your Auto Finesse one should be fine. Wash and dry the car the car then apply tar remover to the dry car, either spray on directly or apply with a very soft microfibre cloth a panel or two at a time, then wipe over very very gently with a MF (no abrasive action). Finally, rinse off thoroughly. Very important not to let the solvent dry on the car. As there’s so many tar spots you might have to repeat the process until the tar remover has dissolved as much of the embedded tar as it can.
Follow with the 'sandwich bag' test to see if there’s any tar contaminant left on the car - get a sandwich or freezer bag and slip your hand into it. Run you fingers inside the bag over the paintwork, panel by panel. The plastic bag will emphasise anything left on the car. If the paint feels glassy smooth then that means the tar remover has shifted all the tar. So just wash the car again and dry and apply some protectant. The key is to remove as much tar with the tar remover as possible leaving less to do at the abrasive claying stage.
If the sandwich bag test shows that there are still tar spots then you’ll need to clay the car using a clay bar and lubricant or a clay cloth or clay mitt, again with a dedicated clay lube or just a dilute shampoo solution to use as a lubricant. The claying process should pull off any remaining tar spots. Again afterwards, do the bag test.
All of this will remove any protection you have on the car (unless it’s a coating like Gtechniq Crystal Serum) so you’ll need to protect the paintwork with a sealant or wax.
Just as an aside, if you’re going to do all that, then you might want to give it a full decontamination and do the step of using iron remover (Iron X etc) after or before (doesn’t matter which) the tar removing but before the claying. This will remove any embedded brake dust and iron particles from the paint that build up over time and that normal washing cannot remove. Then you’ll have a fully decontaminated car.
Lots of effort but worth it to have the paint clear of everything. And well prepped to add a good level of protection. I’d do this next clear weather spell, or maybe even leave it till spring as your car will only pick up more stuff over winter, and of course the weather should be milder.
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JV or Jimbo, can you please move this to the detailing section. Thanks
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I have ordered Valet Pro Citrus Tar and Glue Remover... But would you recommend something different?
This is the perfect product. You can easily use a whole bottle on a white car though if it's bad. I've detailed quite a few white cars and if they don't have a good wax or sealant on then they can be covered in tar and rust spots within 12 months.
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Should I have to wax/seal the car again, which wax or sealant would you recommend for a white car?
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Should I have to wax/seal the car again, which wax or sealant would you recommend for a white car?
If you don't have a sealant on then the paint gets attacked with contaminants. And white cars show this the worst. Tar spots, small rust spots, tree sap etc. All can be removed but it's a very time-consuming job.
Once you have got it decontaminated, you could hand polish it then apply some wax. Waxes last around 3-6 months.
I've used Polish Angel Master Sealant on a lot of the cars I've done as it's very easy to use and gives good protection vs cost. And will last on a single coat up to 12 months.
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Had the same problem with our white GTI we have just returned to lease company.
Even when it was clean it still looked dirty due to the amount of tar.
Asked on another forum and they recommended Tardis.
Great stuff, got rid of 90% with little effort.
£20 for a tin and money well spent.
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Asked on another forum and they recommended Tardis.
Great stuff, got rid of 90% with little effort.
£20 for a tin and money well spent.
Just beware when using Tardis (and same with a lot of products):
H304 May be fatal if swallowed and enters airways
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If it’s fairly fresh tar and the car metal isn’t really cold I’ve found lots of soapy shampoo and the bug net of a wash mitt works with very gentle rubbing.
A really soapy mix helps lubricate the paint well preventing the net scrubbing the lacquer and potentially slightly marring it.
Obviously with a coating this bad a spray or three of tar remover needs to be done first.
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If it’s fairly fresh tar and the car metal isn’t really cold I’ve found lots of soapy shampoo and the bug net of a wash mitt works with very gentle rubbing.
A really soapy mix helps lubricate the paint well preventing the net scrubbing the lacquer and potentially slightly marring it.
Obviously with a coating this bad a spray or three of tar remover needs to be done first.
That is definitely not recommended as the reverse side of a wash mitt will scratch and marr your paint. You might get away with on a white car as might be harder to see the damage caused.
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If it’s fairly fresh tar and the car metal isn’t really cold I’ve found lots of soapy shampoo and the bug net of a wash mitt works with very gentle rubbing.
A really soapy mix helps lubricate the paint well preventing the net scrubbing the lacquer and potentially slightly marring it.
Obviously with a coating this bad a spray or three of tar remover needs to be done first.
That is definitely not recommended as the reverse side of a wash mitt will scratch and marr your paint. You might get away with on a white car as might be harder to see the damage caused.
It’s a white car we are talking about!
I’d never try it on anything other than white or silver and it depends on how swirl free the paint is in the first place.
Depends on how bad the marks are too. Tar remover should get rid of most of it, possibly multiple applications.
GENTLE is the key word here! Using the mesh to hook the lumps off rather than scrubbing down on the paint. Once the lumpy bit is off the residue comes off with shampoo and lambs wool.
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I know what you're saying but the mesh part can only safely be used on glass. Gentle rubbing might be ok but I personally wouldn't. Tar remover and a microfibre should be all the OP needs.
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I know what you're saying but the mesh part can only safely be used on glass. Gentle rubbing might be ok but I personally wouldn't. Tar remover and a microfibre should be all the OP needs.
I have to agree and stick to the tar remover and microfibre..... might take more effort but what's the point in risking inflicting more damage to the paint. Do this once and keep it protected and it shouldn't really be an issue again!
might be worth listening to Jim_mk7.5, don't you do this professionally Jim?
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Many thanks to you all for the advice. I am gonna wait for the Valet Pro Citrus to arrive and then after the Citrus has been left on the paint work a short while to do it's thing I will use a Micro Fibre cloth to be firm but gentle with removing the Tar spots. Then wash the citrus off to avoid any potential damage.
I have already had a go as Exonian describes with the mesh side of the wash mitt with soapy water. Which has not damaged the paint work yet. But Following your advice I will avoid doing such a thing in the future. Hopefully a few coats of Valet Pro Citrus and wiping with the Micro Fibre will do the trick.
I have to say it is amazing how any panel of my car facing forward even the front facing side of the door handle is peppered in tar but the side/panels not facing forward are virtually unscathed.
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I know what you're saying but the mesh part can only safely be used on glass. Gentle rubbing might be ok but I personally wouldn't. Tar remover and a microfibre should be all the OP needs.
I have to agree and stick to the tar remover and microfibre..... might take more effort but what's the point in risking inflicting more damage to the paint. Do this once and keep it protected and it shouldn't really be an issue again!
might be worth listening to Jim_mk7.5, don't you do this professionally Jim?
Not sure I'd say professionally as such... maybe one day in the future! :smiley:
A white RR Sport I did was the worst I've seen but a combination of VP Citus G&T remover, Bilthamber Korrsol and finally a traditional clay bar got rid of it all. It was about 5 years old and probably had never had a full decontamination treatment. Here are a few before and after to show how bad it was. Looked like a different car after.
Brenbo - Take your time, some of the tar spots will be more stubborn and require a few goes. Spray and leave for a few mins on the worst ones and then gently wipe away.
(https://i.postimg.cc/J03dRbHZ/IMG-5536.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/rRm9JRJw)
(https://i.postimg.cc/brfBX6rq/IMG-5549.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/47w5VQp0)
(https://i.postimg.cc/bvjDtkZs/IMG-5576.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/75mZvCMk)
(https://i.postimg.cc/YCFL0bq5/IMG-5582.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/fVwRg7dC)
(https://i.postimg.cc/6QL7LqZz/IMG-5598.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/yJxY7VvS)
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Many Thanks Jim_mk7.5 for the before and after shots. The tar on the front of my car is probaly peppered with 2 to 3 times more spots of tar than the first image you posted. Many thanks for all your advice as well, much appreciated. Will give the tar spots a good go later this week and let you know how I get on.
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Further to my previous post. I gave the car a quick wash, poured some tardis in a spray bottle, sprayed the effected areas, left it for 5 minutes, the tar began to break down, I wiped it down with microfibre cloth and it was gone. For the larger spots I put some directly on to the cloth and wiped it off.
Took now time at all.
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I have just managed to free up some time to attempt to rid my car of the 1000's of tar spots. I have to say the Valet Pro Citrus Glue & Tar Remover is amazing stuff. I cleaned the car, dried it then sprayed the Valet Pro Citrus on the affected areas including plastics, glass and paint work. Then literally within seconds the tar spots started to show orange run marks. I left the Valet Pro Citrus for 2 minutes to do it's magic as advised, and then using a micro fibre cloth, the tar spot literally wiped off on the first wipe without any effort. my Car is now visually tar spot free in minimal time.
Many thanks to all of you who have provided advise and info on this subject it has been great :wink: