Well, I love spring, but not enough to deal with what happened to my car yesterday. After about 12 hours of being parked under a big maple in the GF's driveway I have about 2 pounds of tree sap added to the exterior of my LMS.

Its incredible. Some of the spots are like 1/4" thick.

Therefore, my question: what have you guys been doing to remove this crap?

Any special fluids, brushes, techniques, etc.

Any aid you guys can offer is greatly appreciated.

Sean

 

If you've got a good, slick finish on your car, it shouldn't be too hard to get them off. I've removed sap from Zaino'ed cars by putting an ice cube on the spot for a minute, then just sliding the hardened sap off. Cold is your best bet, as it won't smear the sap like heat or solvents will.

 

that's a good idea. i will try that first thing in the morning.

in the meantime, anymore suggestions out there?

 

there are some automotive products out there for bug/tar/sap removal. you could also try claying the car. check out autopia.org, the have a ton of info!

 

Margarine is great for it. Just a dab'll do ya. Seriously. Tree sap is a resin so it can scratch your paint rather easily but the Margarine liquifies the sap for safe removal.

 

do i just spread it on there and let it sit for a while and then wipe it off?

sounds crazy, but i am up for anything.

 

How long you leave it on there is a variable that will depend very much on how hard the outter 'crust' of the sap globule is and how big it is.

Here's what someone said on another forum I give car care advice on:

My Ford Truck got parked under a drake elm tree for a period of days, got lots of droppings and then did not get washed or cared for for several months.

NOTHING was touching those spots and I went all the way to wd-40, vinegar, kerosene, bodyscrub, and 3M Fine Cut Compound. Rembering a recent idea posted by DD to solve some problem, I raided the fridge and got some margarine (low fat) and smeared it all over the hood and let it sit an hour. The spots were now soft enuf that the 3M Fine Cut got them off. Followed up with Meguiars glaze and Meguiars gold clearcoat wax. Looks like new.

Bottom line: Keep what's in the fridge in mind when cleaning tree sap.

Bob

 

margaine it is!!!

i'm afraid i'm gonna need a whole tub of country crock for this job.

thanks for the info DD.

 

You're welcome! Keep us posted. And if you can take pix of the process. Perhaps I could use them on my website?

 

Usa a alchol based glass cleaner, like sprayaway glass cleaner

 

Time to get a washable car cover - super easy to throw on the car and then you can wash it when you get home...

 

yeah....i know about the car cover thing. i just don't want to be that guy who puts a cover on his car wherever he goes.

the incident in question didn't happen overnight in my driveway. it was during the day at another house.

oh well.

now for the status report.....

tried orange clean (appropriate since i have an orange car *wink*)

tried windex (as suggested)

tried margarine.

results....

the first two just cleaned the sap. made it all shiny.

the butter softened up the top of the sap, so i was able to remove some of it. however, about 85% still remains. guess you just have to go in small steps.

i took some pics. don't really think they are worth posting. i will spend more time on this this weekend.

wish me luck.

 

the butter softened up the top of the sap, so i was able to remove some of it. however, about 85% still remains. guess you just have to go in small steps.

One time, on some really hard sap, I let my client drive my car home and I drove their car home and left the margarine on over night. In the morning it was as soft as could be. (Stupidly I drove to work with it still on the car and it streaked all over the car)