How do you get tree sap out of clothes?

September 28, 2008 10:23 PM

How do you get tree sap out of clothes?

I sat down on a wooden bench and ended up getting tree sap all over the back of my white dress shirt.

Should I just machine wash it or take it to a dry cleaner?

I just don't want to do something wrong to make it a permanent stain.

posted by ShortHairyMan to clothing, beauty, & fashion (6 comments total)

Try rubbing alcohol.
posted by gudrun at 10:52 PM on September 28, 2008

Baby oil will dissolve the sap. Then wash with soap to remove the baby oil. If the sap is dark colored you might not be able to get it all out though.
posted by fshgrl at 11:29 PM on September 28, 2008

Agreeing with fshgrl - if it's dark it might be a done deal. I'd go with kerosene - dabbing - rubbing with a bar of laundry soap, gently rubbing, rinsing, wringing - flattening - dabbing more kerosene - maybe gently rubbing it in to saturate and leaving that for a couple of hours - repeating with the bar of laundry soap. Then I'd take it to the dry cleaners.
posted by watercarrier at 12:34 AM on September 29, 2008

goo gone, works every time.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 7:47 AM on September 29, 2008

2nd-ing gudrun, I recently had a similar issue and used rubbing alcohol followed by a normal wash. Worked like a charm! (FWIW, I had pine sap on olive green and dark blue synthetic materials and had no discoloration or observed issues.)
posted by masher at 2:57 PM on September 29, 2008

Seconding Goo Gone. No home should be without this miracle substance. One small bottle will last years.
posted by IAmBroom at 10:12 AM on September 30, 2008