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fivefour
04-18-2007, 08:54
this past weekend i pitched my tarp next to a small pine tree that dripped sap on my tarp all night. the sap stuck through the howling wind and rain and has hardend some but is still a little sticky. do you guys have any tips on how to wash it off? i have read everything from kerosene to mineral oil but i don't want to damage the fabric. thanks as always!

k

rafe
04-18-2007, 09:05
Mineral spirits (turpentine) should be fine. But to be safe, try it on a corner of the tarp first. My Tarptent came with a tube of GE silicone goop for seam-sealing. The instructions were to thin the silicne with mineral spirits first. So it seems unlikely that mineral spirits would harm the fabric of a Tarptent.

StarLyte
04-18-2007, 09:09
Oh my gosh - can I relate to this.

Last year I parked my car in the lower parking area at Blackburn for 4 days; some kind of sap was dripping from the tall trees, not pine. It was hard as a rock, like resin.

I drove through the car wash several times and it still didn't remove it, so I used real HOT water and dishwashing liquid with a non-abrasive scrubber and it came right off.

It was a really hard job because I have a Jeep.

Have you tried Googling your question? I Google everything :D

Smile
04-18-2007, 09:12
Goo Gone. You can buy it just about everywhere, will take this off no problem.

mudhead
04-18-2007, 09:17
Waterless hand cleaner. $1 at Walmart. Would not use the pumice type. Will need to let a gob of Gojo sit on there for a while. wipe repeat. Rinse well.

Would not leave on overnight, as it does contain petroleum distillates. Whatever that may be...

fivefour
04-18-2007, 09:33
Oh my gosh - can I relate to this.

Last year I parked my car in the lower parking area at Blackburn for 4 days; some kind of sap was dripping from the tall trees, not pine. It was hard as a rock, like resin.

I drove through the car wash several times and it still didn't remove it, so I used real HOT water and dishwashing liquid with a non-abrasive scrubber and it came right off.

It was a really hard job because I have a Jeep.

Have you tried Googling your question? I Google everything :D

yep, i googled it and got several different ideas. the kerosene tip came from there. i think different saps need different cleaning methods. some are just sugar while others are more resin. so far i think the mineral spirits sounds best. thanks for the ideas!

LostInSpace
04-18-2007, 09:52
Goo Gone. You can buy it just about everywhere, will take this off no problem.

Is that the same as "Goof Off?"

I recommend 3M Adhesive, Tar, and Wax Remover. I use it to easily remove label and price sticker residue from plastic products with harm. It seems to work better than Goof Off, but the 3M products might be difficult to find.

LostInSpace
04-18-2007, 09:54
Is that the same as "Goof Off?"

I recommend 3M Adhesive, Tar, and Wax Remover. I use it to easily remove label and price sticker residue from plastic products with harm. It seems to work better than Goof Off, but the 3M products might be difficult to find.

That should read WITHOUT HARM.

fivefour
04-18-2007, 10:21
i figured that's what you meant ;)

Pringles
04-18-2007, 17:13
I got pine sap on some cotton pants once. The pants were LL Bean, so I called and asked their customer service department what they might recommend. They asked around the department and suggested Pinesol. I tried it, and it worked for me. You may even have some Pinesol sitting around.

Beth

boarstone
04-18-2007, 17:20
Try hand cream, or any petroleum based product...or freezing the spot the same as gum removal...freeze..lift off...

Vi+
04-18-2007, 18:06
I usually try Avon “Skin-So-Soft” first, to remove anything sticky. It works most of the time.

Skin-So-Soft is my solvent of choice because it doesn’t seem to harm anything. I suspect the worst result may be the loss of some waterproofness if your tarp is silnylon or, possibly, weaken the lamination of coated nylon. I would try it on a corner of the tarp first. If all seems well, continue on to the sap. Skin-So-Soft has been effective yet very gentle for my cleaning uses.

Apply a minimal amount to one spot of sap, then immediately scrape gently with a fingernail at the sap until it's removed.

If this doesn’t work, reapply Skin-So-Soft and let it remain, untouched, for a while (say two to twenty minutes). Try a second time. I usually apply a small amount of fresh Skin-So-Soft after the waiting period, and immediately scrape again.

After concluding, wash off the Skin-So-Soft with warm soapy water.

When Skin-So-Soft doesn’t work, I use Acetone (Nail Polish Remover). Acetone damages some materials. It will also have the opposite effect with some materials; improving the adherence of things you want to remove. I am concerned, ACETONE MAY DELAMINATE COATED NYLON AND DISSOLVE SILICONE FROM SILNYLON.

rafe
04-18-2007, 18:21
Do NOT use anything with acetone in it. That will almost surely dissolve the tarp fabric. I'd try mineral spirits before trying gasoline or kerosene.

ozt42
04-18-2007, 20:29
skin so soft is scented mineral oil it should work fine

toddhiker
04-18-2007, 20:44
Sounds weird & hard to believe, I know. But on my HH tarp (sil material) I wiped off pine sap the next morning with Charmin - THAT"S IT!!!

Just gently wiped each spot a few times and it came off. My guess is it worked so well because it was fresh???

fivefour
04-19-2007, 13:11
i have let the sap totally dry and it seems to be crumbling off with just my fingernail. i only messed with if a few minutes this morning right before leaving for work. i will try more tonight. i guess if water can's soak in neither can tree sap? i hope it's this simple ... thanks for the tips!

attroll
04-19-2007, 13:14
Olive Oil works on tarps for me. I don't know how it will work on a pack though.

Dances with Mice
04-19-2007, 14:02
One time my son got chewing gum on his down bag. I tried all sorts of stuff to get it off. Nothing worked real well.

What finally worked was throwing it in the freezer overnight. Then it practically fell off. Might work with pine sap too.

Micky
04-19-2007, 14:10
Try W-D40 it works on about anything. Google the use for it.

Jester2000
04-19-2007, 19:58
I Google everything :D

That's disgusting.

Photofanatic
04-23-2007, 11:23
Okay so I haven't tried it on pine sap. It is the final emulsion in developing photographs. So far in life I found it removes anything off of anything. There is no such thing as permanent marker. It even removes permanent marker off of your photographs without damaging the paper so it would probably be gentle on the fabric. You can get PEC-12 at any photography store.

The stuff traditionally used to remove tar and sap (terpentine, auto bug and tar remover, goof off, goo gone, and nail polish remover) might damage the fabric.

LostInSpace
04-23-2007, 11:42
FYI: PEC-12 consists of alkanol and carboxylic acid ester. You can find the Material Safety Data Sheet here (http://www.climaxphoto.com/pdf/msds_pec12.doc).