People aged 50 and over will definitely remember this. A recent post in the Facebook group Nostalgia Malta had locals talking about a time gone by – and a particular one at that. They discussed a time when they’d find tar (yup, you read that right) in the sea.

We’re talking about the black tar sometimes found floating or on the seabed that would fully stick to your body when touched. And it was a little bish to remove, too.

“When we used to go swimming, we’d be stained with the stuff,” the conversation starter said. “As far as I know, it doesn’t exist anymore, or at least isn’t very common.” He said that he thinks it used to come from shipwrecked vessels during the war and the oil just kept on releasing slowly.

Locals shared some interesting remedies that helped (ish) the tar come off. “My nanna used to spray Pif Paf and it would disappear. I used to hate it!” Someone else said, “It was such a hassle and God forbid you stained your shorts because you’d be in for it!” Sounds like a true Maltese fam right there.

Some others had a range of remedies including eucalyptus oil and petroleum. (Yikes!) They also discussed that it could have been oil thrown into the sea from ships docked in the area.