Removing tar from paintwork

[cheffy]

AG Intensive tar remover is best, I find that other tar removers are not nearly as good.

If you want to give the paintwork a thorough transformation, then clay, (after removing tar spots) then AG super resin polish, this will fill in light scratches & swirls, then a good wax, something like colonite 476 does a fab job.

With the polishing and waxing, it is best to remember "less is more" that is to say, apply less, and work small areas at a time.

This is not a quick job, I did all of the above to my W209 last year, took me 14 hours !!! I also spent about 4 hours under the bonnet, and about 5 hours on the interior.

Looks superb.

 

[Elite Detailer]

Hi

Here is a good example of the Autoglym Tar remover which is available in our store doing its job. Autoglym Intensive Tar Remover by Autoglym - Elite Detailer Ltd - Bilt Hamber, Nanolex, Zaino,

It was basically sprayed onto the surface, wait a couple of minutes and then wiped straight off. You can see the tar melting off the paintwork without any agitation:

Regards
G

 

[HR17]

As tar is essentially a thick oil, derived from the same crude oil our fuel comes from(a sort of waste product even!), anything that acts as a solvent - ie. a lighter oil will have some effect. That's where butter, baby oil, veg oil, peanut butter etc come in.

Also on detergents, there's no such thing as an abrasive detergent. Abrasion is a physical not chemical process. All are based on a couple of surfactant derivatives, either positively or negatively charged. I wouldn't worry about using fairy liquid or anything similar. If its safe enough to put your hands in or bathe your kids in it, there's very little harm that can be done to your car. The whole point of a detergent is just to lower the surface tension around dirt so that it can be easily wetted and removed/washed away.

 

[RSS]

I've always used white spirit to get tar spots off, works great. Have always used the Halfords car shampoo that contains a wax. Find it seems to give a better finish if I fill the bucket with warm water. Noticed the other day after the rain that all the water was beaded on the car and it's not been waxed for over two years.

Going to treat it to a wax in the summer

 

[Aoraki]

As tar is essentially a thick oil, derived from the same crude oil our fuel comes from(a sort of waste product even!), anything that acts as a solvent - ie. a lighter oil will have some effect. That's where butter, baby oil, veg oil, peanut butter etc come in.

Also on detergents, there's no such thing as an abrasive detergent. Abrasion is a physical not chemical process. All are based on a couple of surfactant derivatives, either positively or negatively charged. I wouldn't worry about using fairy liquid or anything similar. If its safe enough to put your hands in or bathe your kids in it, there's very little harm that can be done to your car. The whole point of a detergent is just to lower the surface tension around dirt so that it can be easily wetted and removed/washed away.

Wrong..... your dishes are squeaky clean after washing due to the fact you have removed anything that resembles waxes, so if you use the same product on your car you WILL remove the wax that you have put on to get that shine leaving you with bare unprotected paint.

 

[nigel cross]

Wrong..... your dishes are squeaky clean after washing due to the fact you have removed anything that resembles waxes, so if you use the same product on your car you WILL remove the wax that you have put on to get that shine leaving you with bare unprotected paint.

The trouble with fairy liquid etc is it contains salt,not good for paint.
Salt is used to soften the water which is ok in dishwashers but not ideal on cars

 

[HR17]

Wrong..... your dishes are squeaky clean after washing due to the fact you have removed anything that resembles waxes, so if you use the same product on your car you WILL remove the wax that you have put on to get that shine leaving you with bare unprotected paint.

If you have an understanding of the basics of surface tension and how surfactants work, you'll know that this is rubbish. The 'wax' you use on your car may or may not be affected by the type of detergent you use, and will depend upon the composition the of 'wax' and its actual wax component. The length of time the 'wax' has been on your car, the number of times its been wet, the amount of time its spent in the sun or in polluted areas, or the amount of physical friction applied when wet or dry will have much more significant effects. We need to differentiate 'wax' that we use on our cars from the grease we have on our washing up. There are some basics of chemistry,terminology and somantics that we need to take into account when making our statements.

 

[HR17]

The trouble with fairy liquid etc is it contains salt,not good for paint.
Salt is used to soften the water which is ok in dishwashers but not ideal on cars

The amount of salt in Fairy liquid is insignificant when diluted. Likewise, when you rinse after washing, any trace of the salt, being highly soluble in water, will be washed away.

 

[RSS]

Nothing wrong with a squeaky clean car.......

 

[nigel cross]

Looks like for the squeaky people washing up liquid is the way to go.
But I will continue to use car shampoo.
Have you tried fairy in your screen wash?

 

[HR17]

Looks like for the squeaky people washing up liquid is the way to go.
But I will continue to use car shampoo.
Have you tried fairy in your screen wash?

Fairy in screenwash = lots of bubbles! Just ask my mum

 

[MrMotul]

Ive washed hundreds of cars with Fairy Liquid over 30 years or so and so far so good

 

[nigel cross]

Your English is good for a Pole

 

[RSS]

Fairy in screenwash = lots of bubbles! Just ask my mum

I used to a drop or two of fairy but changed to the traditional stuff when it kept icing during cold weather. Lost count of the times I'd be driving and forget hitting the washer and icing my screen

Tend to buy the concentrate now and mix up a 5 litre can of it, lasts ages.