Got some tar in my boat carpet today and on the hull....whats the best way to get this off? Especially the carpet as the hull had a good coat of wax put on it recently but the carpets got me worried. Thanks in advance everyone!

Wd40 then simple green

Howdy,

WD40 works great. My dad recommended it to me when the parking lot we were parked in got resurfaced and then heated up in the sun. Small black spots and streaks all over the tan carpet from our shoes. The WD40 worked like a charm. Just put a tiny amount on a rag and wipe it on the spot. A little goes a long way so don't overdo it.

Take care,

Ruddiger

Kerosene and or Diesel fuel works very well to remove tar - from any thing that it might adhere to.

Then, a follow up with a good cleaner to remove the kerosene or diesel residue will take care of the issue.

----------------------------------
Many years ago, my wife, myself and children were going camping for a long weekend.
At that time we had a brand new white car. I had a trailer that I had converted to a covered utility trailer that we used to contain all of our camping gear. I also had it painted a matching white.

We were going to stay on an island in Lake Superior. I had been told by a co worker about how to get to the only campground on the island.
When we took the ferry over to the island, I talked to the captain of the ferry boat and asked about remaining spaces at the campground. It was his understanding that there were two spaces left at the campground.

So, after leaving the ferry, I made a bee line for the campground following the directions that I had received from my co worker - WRONG,
As it turned out, I took a mile run down a road that had just been covered with fresh road oil. It was a dead end, and I had to turn around and come back over the same road covered with fresh road oil.

We finally found the campground and found one of the two remaining spots. The young children got out of the car and one of the kids happened to touch the side of the car. Instant black on their new camping clothes.
So, my wife said - Nothing leaves this car or trailer, until we clean the car and trailer. The white car and trailer were BLACK up to about 3 feet from the bottom of the car and the bottom of the trailer. Heavy solid black road oil and tar covered everything.

We found the only service station on the island and before doing anything else, purchased 5 gallons of diesel fuel in a borrowed 5 gallon can.
Then, we spent the next few hours cleaning the black road oil and car off of the white car and white trailer.

Then, we followed up by a good heavy soap and water wash by hand on the vehicle and trailer.

Then, 4 hours later, all tired out, we went back to the campground and pitched camp. As it turned out, we had a great weekend and a clean car.
After getting home and after going over some dusty roads, there was a cleaning line on the car and trailer where we had stopped the cleaning process. So, I went over the car and trailer again using gasoline this time to really get all of the road oil and residue out of all of the layers of paint and associated material. Then, I ran both the car and trailer through the self service car wash three times to really get everything 100% clean.
All was well.

By the way, after this incident, this new car was about 100% more quiet due to the nice coating of road oil on the underside of the car. This was in an era where the manufacturers had not really started doing a great job of rust proofing cars as they do today. But this car stayed rust free for about 5 years longer than the same model of similar cars that had not been subjected to the road tar rust proofing done by my self and wife on that nice summer day so long ago.

Memories.

Be safe and stay clean.

REW

Thanks. What a sick feeling that was looking at all those spots after I dropped the boat off at the repair shop because my starter calfed.....one of those days I guess!

I use a product from the Dollar story called "Awesome" it does not hurt the carpet and all you have to do is spray it on and use a cloth to wipe off. The best part it takes blood and coffee stains out also from carpet. I cut it with water to clean grease or tar, bugs on the truck and boat paint.

Actually, just get yourself a can of ether, or starting fluid. Spray it liberally on the spot and dab with a rag or paper towel.

don't inhale the fumes.

after dealing with millions of tons of asphalt nothing is in the class of wd-40. Pretty mush tried it all diesel is a far second and some expensive orange cleaner but the go to was always wd40

Charcoal lighter fluid and a shop vac, a cloth is a bad idea as it only spreads the tar over a bigger surface, the idea is to lift if out without spreading it. WD40 also is a good second choice, if you choose not to use a shop vac, make sure the area surounding the stain is presoaked with whatever your choice of cleaner you use, so the tar can't adhere to the carpet more than it allready is.