Want to know my SUPER SIMPLE tip for how to remove tree sap from almost anything?
You’ve come to the right place!
I have TONS of experience removing sticky tree sap from shoes, clothing, hands, hair, toys, strollers, and more, as we had roughly 35-40 massive drippy, sappy pine trees on our property when we first moved to our farmhouse.
Since then, we had all our pine trees cut down (sad but necessary); however, I still use my simple tip to remove tree sap at least a few times each season.
How to Remove Tree Sap from Skin:
This is actually the easiest remedy of them all — simply spray a little cooking spray onto the sappy areas, scrub for a few seconds, then wash the area with regular hand or dish soap and warm water.
This has worked every time for me in a matter of seconds
How to Remove Tree Sap from Hair:
I really wish I didn’t know this tip — but I do, and thankfully, it’s also really simple 🙂
Just pour a little vegetable oil into your hand and rub it into the sappy area. You could even use a comb to scrape it out. Once the stickiness is gone, you can then just shampoo as normal (you don’t need to shampoo immediately, you can wait until bath time.)
How to Remove Tree Sap from Clothing:
This is probably the most annoying process, and it’s not always 100% successful. However, it is fairly simple and doesn’t take much extra time.
The first step is to scrape off any pooling sap if applicable. Then let the sap-infected area soak in a little vegetable oil.
Now comes the tricky part — removing the oil from the clothing. Dish soap actually works really well at removing oil/grease stains so that’s what I usually use. However, feel free to try any of your favorite stain/grease removing tricks.
You’ll most likely want to look over the item after it comes out of the washer BEFORE you put it in the dryer to see if the oily stain came out. If not, try the dish soap again.
This method also works with fabric cushions for your outdoor furniture.
How to Remove Tree Sap from Toys:
I can’t even tell how you many toys I’ve almost trashed because I didn’t feel like cleaning the super sticky sap… but since I’m pretty frugal, I usually cave and end up cleaning the toys!
Whenever I find sap on our plastic toys, I simply grab a small dish and pour in some vegetable oil. Then I take an old t-shirt rag, dip it in the oil, and rub over the sticky areas. Sometimes I need to use a putty knife to help scrape the sap off, but most of the time it just rubs off onto the rag. (I toss the rag when I’m done)
After the sap is removed, I wash the toy with a bucket of soapy water, rinse it with clean water, and let it dry in the sun.
I’ve had a lot of success with this, but it doesn’t always work, especially if the sap has been on the toy for a VERY long time (like over the entire winter).
So there you go — a super simple, quick tip to hopefully save you loads of time and frustration if you ever come into contact with sticky tree sap!
Hope says
I stepped in sap with my rubber soles slippers and can’t find anything to cut it. I’ve tried Goo Gone, vinegar and paint thinner. I really don’t want to buy new slippers! Any ideas?
Andrea says
Hi Hope — my suggestion would be to do exactly what I mentioned in this email — to first spray the sap with cooking spray, then wash it with Dawn dish soap. Hopefully that will help!
Vicki L. Boyer says
I often get pitch on my hands when building a fire in the woodstove. If you’re out of cooking spray, dab a bit of butter on a paper towel and rub the pitch spots off your hand then wash it off with dish soap (Dawn works especially well) and you’re done!
lisa says
the utility company pruned my stone pine and sap dripped all over my plants below. what can I do to remove it from the leaves of the plants? plus the tree is dirty (no rain for months) – so dirt is mixed in with the sap…mostly on succulents and it looks terrible! ideas please!
Andrea says
oh boy — that might be something you just need to wait until next year to resolve. You can always trim some of the bad leaves off, but then you can cut the plants back this fall and new growth will happen next spring. bummer!
Jeff says
Amazed at ease with cooking spray to remove sap from hands.
Liina says
Ugh! We have the same pine sap problem, but thankfully so far it’s only on our patio furniture and transferred from there onto hands. Rubbing alcohol takes it right off the metal patio furniture! I love rubbing alcohol to get sticky residue leftover from things like price tags too. If it doesn’t wipe right off, saturate a piece of tissue or paper towel in rubbing alcohol and leave it on the area, and it works every time! I will have to try the oil method!
Andrea says
Good to know Rubbing Alcohol works so well! Thanks!
Tad says
I don’t know why people aren’t trying GoJo hand cleaner. We gather pine nuts every couple of years. I will never use anything else. It works in seconds. Make sure that you just purchase the non abrasive cleaner.
Carol says
Thank you so much for these tips.
My go to dishwashing soap for removing oil is Blue Dawn. It is amazing and even removes the oil left on white collars of shirts and blouses.
Andrea says
Blue Dawn is AMAZING for so many uses. I always keep a bottle in the house!
Jennifer says
Any suggestions for getting sap off of a car? My husband parked under a sappy tree one too many times, and his car is covered in tiny drops of sap. They don’t come off with soap and water. Eek!
Andrea says
oh boo — this sounds bad!
I’m not sure about the answer, but I posted it as a reader question on my Facebook and here’s what others have mentioned!
Liina says
Try rubbing alcohol! It works on our painted metal patio furniture.
Tad says
Non abrasive GoJo hand cleaner. It is a mechanics hand cleaner.
Jen says
Completely unrelated question: what type of fern/plant is that in the last photo with the flag?
Andrea says
it’s an asparagus fern — they are my FAVORITE!! (They will actually be on my list of favorite things for June! 🙂
Ann says
Shampoo for oily hair works well on oil stains on clothing.
Andrea says
oh, never thought of this! Thanks for sharing!
Dione says
Thank you!!! Your tips made it easy for me to clean my son’s favorite stuffed animal!!
Andrea says
oh good — gotta’ keep those favorite animals in tip-top condition!
Susan J says
Thank you for the hair tip. I usually wear a hat when I am cleaning up the needles and pruning dead branches under our huge spruce tree and over many years have never had any sap get on my hat. Today I got busy and forgot to put it on and of course, got a large blob of it in my (long) hair. A bit panicked, I googled how to remove and found your blog. Great tip and worked quickly, effortlessly and completely.
Andrea says
oh wow — glad to help you get the sap out. We’ve gotten lots of sap out of hair over the years!
Jennifer P says
A few years ago my oldest son got some tree sap on a pair of new, expensive basketball shorts. I used rubbing alcohol to remove the sap easily. Just dabbed/wiped it on with a cotton ball. As soon as I was done I washed it as usual. He was so happy because he had just bought the shorts and had only worn them once.
Liina says
Yes! Rubbing alcohol is my go to for all sticky stuff! It works great on pine sap!
Mary Dinesen says
I had very good success using hand sanitizer getting tree sap out if my jacket. It seemed to disappear and I was able to wear my jacket without washing it afterwards.
Ali G says
I’ve successfully used isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) to get the sap out of clothes!
Gillian says
I’ve found Goo-Gone works too as well as for sticky labels that are stubborn.
Jennifer says
Very timely advice! Had to scrub tree sap off my baby girl’s thigh last night!
Andrea says
did you eventually get it off?
Tina Watson says
WD-40 is my friend. It works on sap as well as paints and the like.
Andrea says
can you used it on clothing? and skin?
Tina Watson says
Yes and hair followed by washing. Just stay away from eyes and such. I found it easier to launder away than oil from clothing.
Ann says
Shampoo for oily hair works for getting oil out as well. Not 100% of the time but often. (I often pair it with Fels Naptha soap just because that soap is my go-to for almost anything!
Jody says
I will reference this when we put up our Christmas tree. We always have sappy hands for a few days and nothing I tried has worked. Great tips!
Andrea says
haha — I never even thought about christmas trees (we always use a fake tree). Good idea!