Cleaning

[HBW13]

Hi all,
I've had my car for just over 3 months now
And still smile every time I'm in it it's white and therefore gets dirty very quick!! Living in Cornwall there isn't a day where tractors haven't thrown up some mud or worse so I've been washing it regular. I've been using a "chemical guys"  (see pic)
It's been brilliant how ever the tar spots are becoming a pain in the a$$ does anyone know of anything I can add to the washing solution to fight the tar. Don't want to use a clay bar and ideally don't want to go over the car again after washing it... As always any help is appreciated 👍

[davo245]

Hi all,
I've had my car for just over 3 months now
And still smile every time I'm in it it's white and therefore gets dirty very quick!! Living in Cornwall there isn't a day where tractors haven't thrown up some mud or worse so I've been washing it regular. I've been using a "chemical guys"  (see pic)
It's been brilliant how ever the tar spots are becoming a pain in the a$$ does anyone know of anything I can add to the washing solution to fight the tar. Don't want to use a clay bar and ideally don't want to go over the car again after washing it... As always any help is appreciated 👍

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[JoeGTI]

There's no shortcuts if you want to do it right and avoid damaging the paintwork. Get a dedicated tar remover. There's lots of them out there. Spray on (or spray onto a microfibre cloth), and gently wipe off. Avoid doing it when the car is wet. It doesn't take long to do on a Golf-sized car, especially when it's generally confined to the wings, lower front door and rear hatch. Rinse off again afterwards.

[DrivenToDistraction]

There's no shortcuts if you want to do it right and avoid damaging the paintwork. Get a dedicated tar remover. There's lots of them out there. Spray on (or spray onto a microfibre cloth), and gently wipe off. Avoid doing it when the car is wet. It doesn't take long to do on a Golf-sized car, especially when it's generally confined to the wings, lower front door and rear hatch. Rinse off again afterwards.

Agreed. I use Turtle wax's "Bug and Tar Remover". It works very well but relies on being able to see the small bug/tar marks. If they are covered in mud etc, you could pre-wash the car (including rinse) and then use the remover. With the Turtle Wax product it doesn't matter if the car is still wet (pre-spraying the surface with water is recommended). Just spray it on, leave it a minute then wipe off.

[SRGTD]

IMHO tar spots are the main downside of owning a white car - didn’t stop me buying a pure white Polo GTi+ though .

I use this to remove tar spots - it gets very good reviews on the Clean Your Car website;

https://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/valet-pro-citrus-tar-and-glue-remover

I’ve had it in my collection of cleaning and detailing products for many years and it deals with tar spots  quickly, effectively and safely and it smells quite nice too.

[Exonian]

Certainly don’t reach for a clay bar to remove tar spots. That stuff can wreck paint if not used properly.
Full on detailing is something you need to either throw yourself into with all the kit and techniques or avoided  in favour of ‘little and often’ maintenance cleaning.
I’m in the latter camp and live just over the national border in Englandshire. I’ve been driving almost exclusively Pure White Golfs since 2013 as they’re maintenance friendly as far as cleaning goes.
Where I am in South Devon it’s similar to Cornwall as far as roads go and I have an early morning rural commute to contend with. Plus I visit West Cornwall semi regularly to visit family. 
The last couple of years I’ve found the best solution is washing the car weekly with a ceramic infused shampoo that coats the car enough that tar spots don’t stick very well in the first place. A full ceramic coating would obviously work better but make polishing out bramble scratches more difficult. The shampoo only leaves enough coating on to last a shortish time so doesn’t impede polishing any bramble scratches out.
It also resists seagul poop reasonably well so long as you wash the turds off promptly.
Then a few times a year when the roads have been hot enough to properly splatter the paint with tar I find the tar and glue removers as in the above posts work quickly and effectively. 

Save the clay bar for when the metal fallout deposits get so bad a proprietary fall-out remover no longer removes all of it. But you’ll need a full polish and seal afterwards.

[HBW13]

Thanks for the reply. Good to read. I am definitely a little an often man. Once a week if possibly. I find it quite relaxing tbh headphones on washing the car and no one annoys me for 2 hours lol I don't suppose you have the link to the stuff you use with the bit of ceramic coating in it do you??

Cheers

 

Certainly don’t reach for a clay bar to remove tar spots. That stuff can wreck paint if not used properly.
Full on detailing is something you need to either throw yourself into with all the kit and techniques or avoided  in favour of ‘little and often’ maintenance cleaning.
I’m in the latter camp and live just over the national border in Englandshire. I’ve been driving almost exclusively Pure White Golfs since 2013 as they’re maintenance friendly as far as cleaning goes.
Where I am in South Devon it’s similar to Cornwall as far as roads go and I have an early morning rural commute to contend with. Plus I visit West Cornwall semi regularly to visit family. 
The last couple of years I’ve found the best solution is washing the car weekly with a ceramic infused shampoo that coats the car enough that tar spots don’t stick very well in the first place. A full ceramic coating would obviously work better but make polishing out bramble scratches more difficult. The shampoo only leaves enough coating on to last a shortish time so doesn’t impede polishing any bramble scratches out.
It also resists seagul poop reasonably well so long as you wash the turds off promptly.
Then a few times a year when the roads have been hot enough to properly splatter the paint with tar I find the tar and glue removers as in the above posts work quickly and effectively. 

Save the clay bar for when the metal fallout deposits get so bad a proprietary fall-out remover no longer removes all of it. But you’ll need a full polish and seal afterwards.

[Exonian]

The first of that type I tried was Meguiars which came in a package that you mixed yourself but was really good. That became really hard to get hold of, then I saw Turtle Wax did a version which I happened upon on hotukdeals for two bottles for about £16 with a discount code from their eBay store. It’s about £20 for two 1.42 litre bottles via their eBay store now, having just looked, but you do get occasional promo codes. It’s half decent but it needs to be used regularly to be most effective. Try not to get too much of it on the windscreen though.

The other option I thought about a little while after my last reply was to firstly use tar and glue remover, then your usual shampoo followed by a ‘ceramic infused’ type spray detailer/drying aid for the first wash then just the latter two for subsequent washes until the tar builds up again in the hotter weather, then another spray of tar remover might be required.
Different people will prefer different things but that works for me on a white car with relatively new paint.