Okay, so I caved this year and got a real, live, honest to goodness Christmas tree. I love it. BUT, in an effort to get it into the house and set it up, I did notice that my hands were a little sticky from sap {Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, anyone?}. If you are “stuck” in the same boat…or tree, here’s a couple of tips to get it off your hands, and if you were really unlucky, your clothes:
- Fight the sticky with oil. WD-40, cooking oil, shortening and cooking spray will all help to loosen the stick and grime on your hands. Just rub it into your hands and rinse it away with warm water and soap {dawn dish soap works best}. It may take a couple of goes.
- You know how you can use peanut butter to get gum out of hair and off of furniture? Well, the same applies for sap on hands. Lather with a little bit {try to resist licking your fingers} and then rinse it off and go make yourself a sandwich.
- Rubbing alcohol. You can apply some rubbing alcohol with a clean cloth to hands or skin, allow it to sit a bit, and then proceed to wipe it off. Fair warning: this method can be a bit drying to winter hands.
- For clothing, try rubbing alcohol or WD-40. Make sure to test an inconspicuous part of the clothing first to make sure that it doesn’t affect the fabric. Put it onto the sap, allow it to penetrate for a few minutes, and then, blot with a soft, clean cloth. You may have to repeat this several times. Sap can be very stubborn. Don’t launder until you know ALL of the sap is gone.
How about you, any tips for removing sap?
~Mavis
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Rosaleen says
Salad dressing or mayonnaise. The combination of oil and vinegar seems to penetrate better. I read about using this to remove paint from hands in a kids’ book (Yes, when I was a kid) and found it worked. The oil-based stuff dries hands less, but can be a pain to get out of clothes.
Megan says
I always heard that rubbing alcohol or Purell(because it’s rubbing alcohol based) will take sap off clothing as well without damaging clothing like oil-based stuff will. I tried it last year on my kids’ sneakers and it worked really well.
Anke Pietsch says
We have always just used butter for removing sap. First butter and than soap 🙂 both is easily available.
Rita Kerr says
OMGoodness, what did we do before Dawn? 😉
Jenny says
GooGone works wonders on sap.
Jody Graves says
Your ideas are wonderful- especially peanut butter! I run into this problem often because I am a scavenger at heart and rush to pick up pine cones the minute I see them…forgetting that I should wear gloves! I have always used paint solvent/turpentine which is made from pine (I think)…it is quite toxic and makes your hands smell awful…will try something from the kitchen next time! Thank you for the great ideas-
Leal says
I was camping one time and used the hand sanitizer from the “blue restroom”! It worked like a charm.
Gina says
This happened to me over the weekend as I was filling the wood stove. Sap all over my hands. No knowing really what to do, I thickly coated my hands with hand lotion. I rubbed my hands together good letting the lotion soak in some and then washed my hands with soap & hot water. Did the trick! I was so glad because having stick sap on the hands is not a good feeling LOL. From looking at the other comments, I’m guessing the lotion had just enough oil to do the trick.
Jessie says
I use a vegetable oil on sappy hands with the addition of salt. The grit helps ! Then wash with Dawn , rinse, good as new.
Kathy Stevens says
Since she was an artist, my mother always had turpetine available to her for this situation. In those days (the 1950’s), there was no Dawn. There was also little knowledge of hazardous substances. But she did have three children who played in and around pine trees!
Claudine says
I had a bunch of sticky sap on my hands that wouldn’t come off after several washings with soap and water – just 1-2 drops of pure lemon essential oil, rubbed it in and the sticky was GONE. Plus, my hands smelled great!
Nancy says
Coconut oil works great-my dogs get pine sap on their fur in the yard.
Lorie says
Mayonnaise also works well for getting sap off hands and vehicles. Never tried on clothing due to it’s only residue. Thank you all for the suggestions.