How to Get Pine Tar Out of Polyester

Written By
Sara Tetreault
Sara Tetreault
Published: Nov 18, 2009
Updated: Feb 5, 2019
1 minute read

Getting pine tar or sap on your clothing can be very irritating, especially when it comes time to remove it. Removing pine tar from polyester clothing or other materials, such as car seats, is possible as long as you have the right ingredients and tools. You can use items found right in your home.

Apply rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer (with alcohol) to a cloth. Rub the cloth on the pine tar to remove the sap. After you have removed all the sap with the cloth, wash the piece of clothing as you regularly would.

Place 1/2 tsp. of peanut butter onto the tar and rub it in with your hands. Massage the peanut butter into the clothing to loosen the sap from the fabric. Wash it off with cool water to make sure the sap has been completely removed.

Spray certain bug sprays, such as OFF! Deep Woods, directly onto the tar. Rub the area gently to remove the spot.

Launder the fabric as you normally would, once the sap is gone.

Sara Tetreault

Sara Tetreault has worked as a marketing copywriter and editor since 2006. She has written copy for public health organizations, Yankee Retail, and Oce North America. Tetreault received her Master of Arts degree in early modern culture and…

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