Proven Method: How to Get Tar Out of Walls (2026)

By Lisa Nguyen · December 6, 2025

Immediate Action (first 5 minutes)

Don't touch it. I mean it. When you first spot a black, sticky glob of roofing tar or driveway sealant on your painted drywall, your instinct is to wipe it. Don't. Wiping spreads the petroleum binders deep into the porous paint layer. I've ruined a perfectly good accent wall doing exactly that back in 2018. Instead, grab an ice pack. You need to drop the temperature of the tar below 40°F to make it brittle. Hold a Ziploc bag of ice cubes directly against the stain for exactly 3 to 5 minutes. This stops the tar from dripping and gives you a solid mass to work with. If you're dealing with a fresh splash from a roofing crew outside, close your windows immediately to prevent fumes from settling.

What You'll Need (tools/products)

Getting the right supplies saves you from scrubbing until your arm goes numb. I've tested dozens of solvents on my own walls over the last decade. Here is my exact toolkit for this job.

Plastic Putty Knife (3-inch blade): Never use metal. A metal scraper will gouge your drywall paper. I use the Hyde 3-Inch Plastic Putty Knife ($4-6 at most hardware stores).
Citrus-Based Solvent: Goo Gone Original or De-Solv-it Citrus Solutions (12 oz bottle, $7-10). These break down asphalt without instantly melting latex paint.
Microfiber Cloths: Grab a pack of Amazon Basics 24-pack microfiber towels. You'll throw these away, so don't use your good kitchen rags.
Dish Soap: Dawn Ultra Platinum Powerwash (16 oz, $6). You need heavy-duty surfactants to lift the oily residue left by the solvent.
Melamine Sponge: Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Extra Durable. This is for the final micro-stains.
Nitrile Gloves: Tar stains skin for weeks. Wear 4-mil thick nitrile gloves.

I'll be honest, this isn't the cheapest stain removal process. You'll spend about $25-35 total if you don't already own these items. But it beats paying a professional painter $300 to patch and repaint the wall.

Step-by-Step Removal

Now we actually get to work. Make sure your room is well-ventilated. Open a window and point a box fan outward. Citrus solvents and tar fumes will give you a headache fast.

Step 1: Scrape the Hardened Mass

Take your plastic putty knife and gently slide it under the edge of the frozen tar. Apply steady, upward pressure. The brittle tar should pop off in chunks. If it smears, it's not cold enough. Reapply your ice pack for another 3 minutes. I usually get about 80% of the physical mass removed during this scraping phase. Drop the chunks into a heavy-duty trash bag immediately so they don't stick to your baseboards.

Step 2: Apply the Citrus Solvent

Shake your bottle of De-Solv-it or Goo Gone well. Spray it directly onto a microfiber cloth, not the wall. Spraying the wall causes the solvent to run down and create secondary drip stains. Press the damp cloth against the remaining black residue. Hold it there for 60 seconds. This dwell time is critical. The d-limonene in the citrus solvent needs time to break the chemical bonds of the asphalt. If you are working on a dark-colored wall, test the solvent on a hidden corner first. Some cheaper citrus brands contain mild bleaching agents that can lighten navy or forest green paints.

Step 3: Wipe in One Direction

After 60 seconds, wipe the area firmly in one direction. Don't scrub in circles. Circular scrubbing just pushes the black pigment into the microscopic pores of your paint. Wipe left to right, then fold the cloth to expose a clean side. Repeat this until the cloth comes away mostly clear. You'll likely go through 4 or 5 sections of your rag.

Step 4: Cut the Grease with Dish Soap

Citrus solvents leave behind an oily, sticky film. If you don't remove it, dust will stick to that spot forever. Mix 2 tablespoons of Dawn Platinum Powerwash into a spray bottle filled with 16 ounces of warm water (around 100°F). Spray the soapy solution onto the wall. Let it sit for 2 minutes. Wipe it clean with a fresh, damp microfiber cloth. Make sure you rinse your cloth frequently in a bucket of clean water. If you just keep wiping with the same soapy rag, you are simply moving the black grease around the wall.

Step 5: Erase the Ghost Stain

Sometimes, a faint gray or yellow shadow remains after washing. This is where the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser comes in. Wet the sponge and squeeze out the excess water. Gently buff the shadow in a circular motion for about 15 seconds. Stop immediately if you see paint transferring to the sponge. Melamine sponges act like ultra-fine sandpaper. You want to clean the paint, not sand it off. This step is especially risky on flat or matte paint finishes, so use a very light touch.

Alternative Methods

Sometimes the standard citrus approach doesn't cut it. Maybe the tar has baked onto a south-facing wall in the hot sun for three weeks. Or maybe you're highly sensitive to chemical smells. I've used these three backup methods when the main process fails.

Method 1: The Peanut Butter Trick

This sounds crazy, but it works on small splatters. The natural oils in creamy peanut butter (like Jif or Skippy) slowly dissolve petroleum products. Smear a thick layer of peanut butter over the tar spot. Leave it alone for 20 minutes. Wipe it away with a paper towel. I used this on a tiny tar flick near my light switch where I didn't want liquid solvents dripping into the electrical box. It's messy, but safe around electricity.

Method 2: Baking Soda and Cooking Oil Paste

Mix 3 tablespoons of Arm & Hammer baking soda with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Stir it into a thick, gritty paste. Apply it to the stain with your gloved fingers. The oil breaks down the tar while the baking soda provides gentle abrasion. Scrub lightly for 2 minutes, then wipe clean with soapy water. This takes more elbow grease than commercial solvents.

Method 3: Commercial Automotive Tar Remover

If you're dealing with massive amounts of driveway sealant tracked inside by the dog, you need heavy artillery. Turtle Wax Bug & Tar Remover (16 oz, $9) is formulated for car paint, which is surprisingly similar in durability to high-gloss interior wall paint. Spray it on, wait 3 minutes, and wipe. Warning: Do not use this on flat or matte paint. It will strip the finish right off.

Let's compare these options so you can choose the right one for your specific mess.

Method	Best For	Cost	Risk to Paint
Citrus Solvent	Standard splatters, fresh tar	$7-10	Low (safe for most finishes)
Peanut Butter	Tiny spots near electrical outlets	$3	Zero
Baking Soda Paste	Chemical-sensitive households	$2	Low-Medium (mild abrasion)
Auto Tar Remover	Massive, baked-on driveway sealant	$9	High (strips matte/flat paint)

Prevention Tips

Stopping tar before it hits your drywall is always easier than scrubbing it off later. If your roofing contractor is applying hot asphalt, insist they hang 6-mil plastic sheeting over your exterior walls and interior vents. I learned this the hard way when a roofer's mop flicked black sludge through an open attic vent. It took me three hours to clean the resulting mess.

Inside the house, keep a dedicated dirty shoe mat right inside the garage door. If you're sealing your driveway, keep the garage door shut for 48 hours. Driveway sealant tracks in on paws and shoes easily. When your kids run barefoot across a freshly sealed street, wash their feet with mineral spirits outside before they ever touch your interior walls.

If you live in an older home with original plaster walls, be extra careful. Plaster is much more porous than modern drywall and will drink up liquid solvents rapidly. Always use the thickest paste or peanut butter method on historic plaster to prevent deep seepage.

Finally, keep a small bottle of Goo Gone and a plastic scraper in your utility closet. Addressing a rogue tar mark within 10 minutes of it happening takes 30 seconds of effort. Letting it sit for a month turns it into a 45-minute chore. Quick action is your best defense against permanent wall damage.

FAQ

Can I use mineral spirits on painted drywall?

I strongly advise against using mineral spirits on standard interior latex paint. While it dissolves tar instantly, it also breaks down the acrylic binders in your wall paint. You'll end up with a clean, completely bald spot that requires repainting. Stick to citrus-based cleaners for painted surfaces. If you absolutely must use a stronger solvent like mineral spirits for a stubborn exterior brick wall, dilute it heavily with water and rinse immediately.

Will tar eventually dry and fall off the wall on its own?

Tar and asphalt-based sealants never truly cure or dry out completely in indoor conditions. They remain slightly tacky and thermoplastic for years. If you leave it alone, it will just attract household dust and pet hair, turning into a permanent, fuzzy black scab on your wall.

How do I get tar out of textured walls like orange peel or knockdown?

Textured walls trap tar deep inside the crevices, making scraping impossible. You have to rely entirely on chemical dissolution. Spray your citrus solvent onto a stiff-bristled nylon detailing brush and gently agitate the texture. Blot the dissolved tar out with a dry paper towel repeatedly until the crevices are clear.

What if the tar has stained the white caulk around my baseboards?

White silicone or acrylic caulk is highly porous and absorbs black pigment rapidly. If the citrus solvent doesn't lift the stain from the caulk within 5 minutes, the stain is permanent. Your only real option is to take a utility knife, slice out the stained caulk, and apply a fresh bead of paintable acrylic caulk.