Thanks, but maybe you could fill me in on another 'key word': MEK. What is this in layman's terms? Would this be the aforementioned mineral spirits, or kerosene or what? The more info youse give, the more confused I'm becoming. I went into the hardware store today, looked at the mineral spirits, and decided that I really didn't want to bring home a whole bottle of the stuff just for one tar removal job, only to be stuck with a nasty and corrosive chemical under the kitchen sink and right next to my precious worm composting bin. I left with a couple of brillo pads at the suggestion of the store clerk; for the record, he said mineral spirits wouldn't work, and he pointed me to some kind of gunk remover, but that looked nasty, too. So which one am I gonna use, guys?