removing spruce resin

[Zed Rafi]

Hello all,

this post might be a little off-topic, but i'm certain someone in this group knows the answer to my question.

i was was on vacation last week, and i bumped into a spruce tree while backing my car into a camping driveway (dop!!!!). In addition to the dent on my car, there's an enormous amount of spruce resin that stuck to my car's bodywork. the accident happened a week ago, and when i got back home after my vacation, i noticed that the resin dried out, and is now quite hardened.

is there a product i could use to dissolve the spuce resin and take it off my car without damaging the paint?

thanks a lot

[CW]

Goof Off or WD 40. Both will take some time to soak but will not harm your paint.

[George E. Cawthon]

Since you have a big dent, you will probably have to have it painted. So you may not need to worry to much about the paint.

An obvious first choice is butter, the old remedy for removing sap (the resin) from clothes, hair, and skin. In this case, warm the butter some and rub it in. Heating the dried resin, with a hair dryer or a light bulb close to the surface would probably be helpful.

An obvious second choice would bug and tar remover available in all auto parts stores and auto departments of most any store.

The obvious choice of solvent is turpentine, but the effects on paint will vary depending on the paint. You could test it on a hidden part, but in all likelihood it would not damage your paint.

[Bjarte Runderheim]

I subscribe absolutely to the idea of butter. It is an old and time-proven remover of resin and tar from hands and whatever.

Why pay 10 times more for less effective chemicals? (My father swore by _unsalted_ butter. Said it was less prone to leave discoloration on paints.)

Bjarte

[Larry Jaques]

If you don't have any tar remover or WD-40, try some vegetable or mineral oil. (Yes, what works in your salad works on your car, too!) Most oils will remove most adhesives and the residues will come off in the car wash.

And next time, ask the Ranger. Fresh resin is a lot easier to remove.

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[Bruce & Lois Nelson]

vegetable oils & cheese oil work well on a lot of things.

I fixed a roof, and got some of the roof "tar" on my hands. Cleaned up best I could with mineral spirits & hand cleaner - could not get anymore off.

Friend offered me some pizza. Went to wipe the pizza grease off my hands on a paper napkin - most of the rest of the roofing tar came off, too!

Bruce