# Tarry beach feet?-- A question too stupid for GQ. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 12, 2003, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tarry-beach-feet-a-question-too-stupid-for-gq/201098 "2003-09-12T01:08:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tarry-beach-feet-a-question-too-stupid-for-gq/201098/1 "2003-09-12T01:08:00Z")
[I’m reading this thingy here from AOL RealSimple](http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/onlyonaol/cg/0,17393,466266,00.html) (not sure if this link works for non Aolers) and it gives this alternate use for baby oil: Taking tar off of your feet after a walk on the beach. I live in NYC where the non-cleansliness of the beach is a running joke. Medical wastes, poo, glass-- you name it, we’ve seen it wash up at one time or another. But never tar. We leave the tar for the constant refilling of the potholes on the roads that lead to the beach. Who’s got tar on their beaches and where does it come from? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tarry-beach-feet-a-question-too-stupid-for-gq/201098/2 "2003-09-12T01:22:02Z")
Santa Barbara channel – natural seepage, made worse by drilling. It’s not a joke out there. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tarry-beach-feet-a-question-too-stupid-for-gq/201098/3 "2003-09-12T02:14:57Z")
FYI to get tar off of hands and feet, use butter or crisco. ---
**Author:** ![hyperjes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df705f/32.png) [@hyperjes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hyperjes)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tarry-beach-feet-a-question-too-stupid-for-gq/201098/4 "2003-09-12T03:40:43Z")
NC beaches abound with “tar.” One of the local colleges even named its sports team the “Tarheels.” I’m not sure _what_ it is, exactly. It is, however, incredibly black, sticky, stinky and prolific. Goo Gone works on tarry feet too. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tarry-beach-feet-a-question-too-stupid-for-gq/201098/5 "2003-09-12T03:54:03Z")
Yeah, residents of Galveston Island will have baby oil available during a tarry spell. Natural oil seeps annually release more oil into the Gulf of Mexico alone than was spilled by the Exxon Valdez. It’s a gift from Mother Earth. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tarry-beach-feet-a-question-too-stupid-for-gq/201098/6 "2003-09-12T08:18:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by twickster \* > \*\*Santa Barbara channel – natural seepage, made worse by drilling. > > It’s not a joke out there. \*\* Actually it’s not that big of a deal out there (I would normally say here but I am away from home on business right now.) The tar problem used to be a lot worse actually and, as **twickster** noted, it is natural. The Natives used the stuff to seal their canoes. A lot of the beachside hotels have bottles of baby oil in the bathrooms for tar removal. Haj