# How to get dried tree sap out of medium-long fur



## HyperFerret (Feb 7, 2009)

Apparently Tj wanted to be a tree huger today. There's a real good sized splotch on the left side of his rump and a little spot on his right shoulder. It's pretty solid but I do not want to cut it out.

My plan: I'm about to give him a bath (which I was doing anyway) and will really concentrate on those 2 spots. I'm also going to apply conditioner generously to the effected areas. After that I guess I'll gently and slowly work at his fur, starting from tips and slowly working in towards the skin. I'll be using a dog rake for this. The whole time I'll be holding the skin and fur to decrease any pulling. ...Again, I really don't want to cut a patch out of his fur.

Any other/better suggestions?

The thought crossed my mind of using peanut butter because that worked great when I had to get gum out of a cats coat. But I didn't know how that would work on tree sap so I didn't do it.


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## Bordermom (Apr 28, 2010)

Peanut butter, vegetable oil or butter. Use a hair drier to warm the area, or put a warm/hot wet washcloth over the whole thing for a few minutes at a time, working on gently pulling/combing out the sap a bit at a time.

If you have thinning shears, you can trim the worst of the hair under the sap so it comes out and doesn't leave a gaping hole in the coat too. If it's long enough you can take a baggie with the oil in it, put it on the sap and soak it that way too.

Use some dawn dish soap on the greasy area afterwards to remove the worst of the oil.

Lana


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## JiveDadson (Feb 22, 2010)

Bordermom said:


> Peanut butter, vegetable oil or butter. Use a hair drier to warm the area, or put a warm/hot wet washcloth over the whole thing for a few minutes at a time, working on gently pulling/combing out the sap a bit at a time.
> 
> If you have thinning shears, you can trim the worst of the hair under the sap so it comes out and doesn't leave a gaping hole in the coat too. If it's long enough you can take a baggie with the oil in it, put it on the sap and soak it that way too.
> 
> ...


Are you sure that will work? I paint in oils. Certainly the kinds of resins I use (copal, damar, mastic) do not dissolve in non-volatile oil, or even mineral spirits. Spirits of gum turpentine, or better yet, oil of spike lavender (a volatile oil) will do the trick. Those must be used in a very well ventilated area. The best turpentine, which is used in cosmetics among other products, has a faint but pleasant pine aroma. The worst smells like sewer gas. I could tell you where to get the good stuff. A lot of people think spike lavender smells great. I'm not one of them.

I am not recommending using solvents without checking with an expert first. I don't think the dog would have a reaction, but what do I know? (No need to answer that.)


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## winniec777 (Apr 20, 2008)

I got sap on me Sunday and used rubbing alcohol. You'd need to be careful not to get too much on the skin but if you put some on a cotton ball and rubbed the hair on the cotton ball between your thumb and forefinger, you should be able to get it off the hair with a few tries. 

Goo Gone should also work. We used it on our dog's paws when she would get tar on them at the beach. It took the tar off easily. I washed her paws right away to get the residue from the Goo Gone off. Never seemed to harm her.

EDIT: I've never had much luck with peanut butter/oils with sticky stuff. Finding something that cuts through it seems a better route, IMO.


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## JiveDadson (Feb 22, 2010)

winniec777 said:


> I got sap on me Sunday and used rubbing alcohol. You'd need to be careful not to get too much on the skin but if you put some on a cotton ball and rubbed the hair on the cotton ball between your thumb and forefinger, you should be able to get it off the hair with a few tries.
> 
> Goo Gone should also work. We used it on our dog's paws when she would get tar on them at the beach. It took the tar off easily. I washed her paws right away to get the residue from the Goo Gone off. Never seemed to harm her.
> 
> EDIT: I've never had much luck with peanut butter/oils with sticky stuff. Finding something that cuts through it seems a better route, IMO.


Goo Gone's active ingredients are mineral spirits (naphtha) and citrus oil. As I said, mineral spirits alone won't cut it. You could mix odorless mineral spirits with oil of spike lavender, and that would probably do it. I didn't mention citrus because I thought dogs might react badly to it. I know I do. D-limonene gives me a raging headache. But what do I know?


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

I didn't think peanut butter would work either. I thought maybe the dog would happily chew the peanut butter covered sap out but it does make the sap less sticky and it will roll out of the coat. I even used it on gum stuck to my shoe.


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