De-taring a car

corolla 1991

There is probably already a thread about this but.......
I have a hatchback corolla that is covered in tar.
The only place there isnt tar is the roof!
Whats the best way of getting it off?
Ive heard of washing, then petol, then pollish but I dont want to damage the paint or will it?
Ive heard of mixing petrol and diesel aswel or buying de-tar stuff??
Any suggestions??

R.O.R

corolla 1991 wrote: »

There is probably already a thread about this but.......
I have a hatchback corolla that is covered in tar.
The only place there isnt tar is the roof!
Whats the best way of getting it off?
Ive heard of washing, then petol, then pollish but I dont want to damage the paint or will it?
Ive heard of mixing petrol and diesel aswel or buying de-tar stuff??
Any suggestions??

Our valeter swears by this stuff: http://www.turtlewax.com/main.taf?p=2,1,4,11

MetzgerMeister

Yes there are several threads on here somewhere. But...

If you have a lot to get off, just get a can of Holtz Tar & General spot remover. It's brilliant.

Nonoperational

Used the turtlewax product found it excellent. Still needs elbow grease though. Will take about 4 hours to do whole car. In my experience anyway.

corolla 1991

I might try out the turlewax so...
But has anyone any experience of using petrol?

TestTransmission

I've used the autoglym stuff before which gave great results

Carstuck

As suggested the Holtz Tar remover is outstanding. Have used it and in less than 2 hours the car was like new. Its only €7/8.

L-M

LIGHTNING wrote: »

I used that stuff a while ago and I found it useless, I am fairly sure it was the turtlewax product.

+1, it genuinely removes as much tar as normal water. It's so bad as a tar remover I nearly wrote to them about it.

I use Trafalgar tar and glue remover, it's very very good. Best sprayed on, then left for 20 seconds, then another quick spray and wipe off.

You can also get tar removing sponges (Halfrauds is prob the best place to get it) and they make the job ten times easier!

Nonoperational

Completely disagree. Used it last weekend and it removed 100% of the tar. Spray on leave for 1 min and wipe off with pressure. Others may be better but it's not completely useless.

Marty McFly

+1 for the autoglym when i got my car had a fair bit of tar on it and the autglym plus a bit of elbow grease worked perfectly.

JJJJNR

WD-40 Does the job, just spray it on the effected area leave for a couple of mins and gently wipe off with some hot soapy water.

JJJJNR

gpf101 wrote: »

Completely disagree. Used it last weekend and it removed 100% of the tar. Spray on leave for 1 min and wipe off with pressure. Others may be better but it's not completely useless.

I wouldn't recommend that TBH tar can have all types of grit also and could damage your paintwork.

Neilw

Autosmart tardis is very good.

I'll wait for the petrol brigade to roll in

okane1

luvbulmers01 wrote: »

+1 for the autoglym when i got my car had a fair bit of tar on it and the autglym plus a bit of elbow grease worked perfectly.

+2, but will all removers, eblow grease is required. Tar removers also removes any wax you may or may not have on your car, meaning you need to re-wax.

-Corkie-

Neilw wrote: »

Autosmart tardis is very good.

I'll wait for the petrol brigade to roll in

True True I must get a gallon of it sometime. Wd-40 is good as well.

v240gltse

+3 for autoglym, they have a product called " ultimate tar remover" and it really does what it says. It's easy and effective to use and removed all the tar from my silver car without me breaking into a sweat . so go on and get it i bought mine in halfords.

all the best

brendan

Spudzzmurphy

corolla 1991 wrote: »

I might try out the turlewax so...
But has anyone any experience of using petrol?

Used petrol:eek: several times on my car and it done the job OK,just make sure you wax the area you cleaned after.

thebull09

Use "Holts gel tar remover" im telling you , you will not find anything better just spray a panal at a time leave for about 1 minute ad wipe off no elbow grease need whats so ever, i would not use anything else

RandomAccess

Have a look on http://detailingworld.com/

they do product reviews and stuff, plus the majority of them are in the detailing business so have a lot of experience.

Jumpy

Clay bars take tar off in no time.

I got funny looks while I was doing it though. I couldnt stop myself singing "I wanna take you to a clay bar, clay bar"

Neilw

okane1 wrote: »

+2, but will all removers, eblow grease is required.

Tardis disolves the tar and it just dribbles off, very little work required. Spray on leave for a few mins and wipe off.

Jumpy wrote: »

Clay bars take tar off in no time.

I got funny looks while I was doing it though. I couldnt stop myself singing "I wanna take you to a clay bar, clay bar"

It's a bit of a waste of an expensive clay bar removing tar with it.

corolla 1991

so many suggestions, and then the next comment saying that one is useless!!:rolleyes:
so now im just more confused then when I started!

CaraFawn

corolla 1991 wrote: »

so many suggestions, and then the next comment saying that one is useless!!:rolleyes:
so now im just more confused then when I started!

Don't worry about it, there are several products on the market that are good and will do the job.
Now it probably is easier to drop in Halfords shop and buy a bottle of ar remover. It will do the job.

-Corkie-

corolla 1991 wrote: »

so many suggestions, and then the next comment saying that one is useless!!:rolleyes:
so now im just more confused then when I started!

Thats men and motors for ya!!!!!!!1

Mc Love

Clay bar and Poorboys World Spray and Wipe - works a gem!!

alexmcred

Valet Pro Citrus Tar & Glue Remover works an absolute treat

daveharnett

Mc Love wrote: »

Clay bar and Poorboys World Spray and Wipe - works a gem!!

Can't beat a claybar. If you want to spend a day cleaning your car

vectra

Just go and get a litre of petrol and one of these


Best of the lot.. :pac::pac:


Then again...
DO NOT...!!

Get some tar remover. (Tardis appears to have the highest rating)

Bumpstop

I'm almost 50 and i have been using petrol to remove tar from car bodies since i was 8. don't smoke, wipe the area with a petrol soaked rag, let sit for a mo' then wipe over harder, this will remove all road muck. use detergent or car shampoo to wash residue off car, polish or do what ever you do. Bottled tar remover lmao. don't get me started on clay bars, why would you rub a solid material over your car with potential for scratching. Nuts i tell you clay bars are for idiots. If you don't beleive me the clay bar captures solids off your car as you rub and re rub them into the paint. petrol disolves tar and most other crap into liquid and gets rubbed away. noone ever scratched their car with a petrol soaked rag can the clay bar say the same ???

Mc Love

Well I have used clay bars and never noticed any damage - leaves the surface totally smooth - gives your arm some work out though!

TomMc

Clay bars were originally used for removing overspray in bodyshops. They have a place if used correctly (so not for idiots despite some peoples opinions). Also good for things like tree sap. A tar remover is best for tar spots as the solvents soften and dissolve it first (takes just a few minutes) reducing the need for rubbing to merely wiping off. The best product for removing fallout is called Iron Cut. It is a liquid spray solution which turns contaminants like rail dust and brake dust into a liquid state. So they rinse off. Cleans beneath the surface. Clay bars do not. Much better overall than clay (far less friction involved) but IC is not for removing tar.

http://www.aquartz.net/iron-cut.html

L-M

daveharnett wrote: »

Can't beat a claybar. If you want to spend a day cleaning your car

Aye! I can't understand people who use clay bars to de tar the car, I de tar it first and then use the clay bar! If the car was any way covered in tar you'd be at it all evening trying to de tar it with a claybar.

If I'm not majorily busy this evening I'll do a demo of that Turtle wax tar remover, because I'm convinced it's sh*te

MetzgerMeister

Limerick man wrote: »

I'm not majorily busy this evening I'll do a demo of that Turtle wax tar remover, because I'm convinced it's sh*te

You might aswell spray fresh cream onto the tar!

SEPT 23 1989

I use cellulose thinners and it works very well

MetzgerMeister

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

I use cellulose thinners and it works very well

To take off tar or paintwork???? Or does the tar come off with the paint?

Carstuck

corolla 1991 wrote: »

so many suggestions, and then the next comment saying that one is useless!!:rolleyes:
so now im just more confused then when I started!

I know what you mean. If you use Holtz, Autoglm or even many other of the products mentioned, they'll all do the job just as good. It's just a matter of preference!!

L-M

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

I use cellulose thinners and it works very well

I'd only ever use thinners to remove other paint from the car if it was scratched etc., I'm sure there are ALOT of lighter stuff you could use to get off than that thinners!

corolla 1991

well the mother is after coming home with some german tar remover called PINGO, and got some turtle wax for a bit of a shine after!!...time for a day of scrubbing:rolleyes:

sean1141

holts tar remover gel is one of the best products you can get for removing heavy tar spots. tardis is good too but harder to come across and can only be got in a 5L can afaik.
clay bar will remove light tar spots but i wouldnt recomend using it for that purpose, kind of a waste. use it after you remove all the tar!