[dleach]

I went for a ride in the Sierra yesterday, a beautiful trip.
However, I got two "buttons" , about the size of a nickel, of pine pitch on the top.
I intend to leave them on the top until they dry and then lift the button off. there is sure to be a thin layer of pitch embedded in the fabric. How should I remove the remaining pitch?

Don

 

[chickenwire]

I would use lighter fluid. Whatever you end up using, I'd recommend a good cleaning and treating with something like Raggtop.

 

[DaveOC]

Denatured alcohol. Rubbing alcohol also works extremely well.

 

[Crimson Avenger]

Q-Tips and Rubbing alcohol--Pitch is Soluble in Alcohol

Denatured alcohol. Rubbing alcohol also works extremely well.

Exactly!! I had this problem at our Tahoe meet in 2006. Parked under a tree, and got a pitch drop on the top.

I removed the pitch with a few Q-Tips and some rubbing alcohol (90% or higher is better than 70%, but both should work).

The pitch is soluble in the rubbing alcohol. You can get the pitch off by putting the end of the Q-Tip in the alcohol first, then dabbing the Q-Tip into the pitch.

It will take several such Q-Tips, but the pitch will come out, and the alcohol will evaporate leaving the nylon of the top unaffected. Don't be afraid to use as many Q-Tips as it takes and don't be too greedy with trying to get all of the pitch with as few Q-tips as possible--take only a little pitch with each Q-Tip. The pitch will even come out of the fibers of the top, preferring to be dissolved by the alcohol in the Q-Tip to remaining in the top fibers.

It did not actually take that long to clean up my pitch drop (maybe 4 or 5 minutes once I got the alcohol and Q-Tips).

I would also do this before the pitch hardens; it's much easier to dissolve and pull away from the fibers when it is still wet vs. when it's hardened.

Good luck with this.

 

[dleach]

Thanks for your responses. I'm out-of-state and away from my car for two weeks. I guess the pitch will be hard by the time I get back. It'll just take a little more patience. The alcohol and Q-tips sounds good. My wife is a chemist (my son also) so getting the alcohol won't be a problem.
Thanks again,

Don