how do you remove tree sap from your car?



aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrg

 

get some pancakes and chuck them on there.....num a num

Use some of the Mr. Clean bug remover it will soften it up. Also wax/grease remover works great buy you'll ned to give it a rub with some rubbing compound afterwards as the chemical will slightly dull the paint.

 

Believe it or not I was told that hand sanitizer the stuff that wets your hands, drys and cleans them works for tree sap on all types of materials except carbon fiber. This was tried by someone at one of our meets and it worked!

RXXXED

 

classicauto - sap/bug remover should work on most cases but you have to rewax/seal the whole area again. the really bad stuff, youre going to need something else like claybar. rubbing compound is too agressive and they not only DULL your paint it thins it by a lot (its basically liqued sandpaper).

rbyrd - it contains harsh chemicals in it like alcohol and perfume. i wouldnt let that those things touch the paint because if you let it sit for too long it soaks into the paint and causes harmful effects.

what you need is Claybar. not hobby clays... detaaling clay bars. they are avaible at your local parts stores and they come in different brands. parts stores usually sell MOthers or Meguiars claybars. claybar's remove conatminates like fallout (tiny micro metal's that comes from factories or rails that embeds into your painta nd starts to dull and rust which will eventually spread), sap/bugs, oxidation (usually dead paint/clearcoat caused by UV rays), and preps the paint for sealing/waxing. claybar DOES remove protectoin but claybar is a LIFTING cleanser. youre going to have to rewax the car after clay barring. i would read up at www.autopia.org (click learna nd read teh articles). its a good detailing forum too.


edit: forgot about plishing. polishing only cuts the surface of the paint to remove defects. it DOES NOT remove contamination (fallout, sap, etc etc). it CUTS the contamination and makes it smaller and harder to remove. only polish after clay barring.

 

mmmmk. And by how many mils do you KNOW that rubbing compound does this?

Thats entirely incorrect and should be considered mis-information.

It should be known that wet paper (P2000) on a full cut only removes 0.09-0.1 mils of paint. Your clear coat (in an ideal case, and most mfr. recomended thicknesses) is 2.0mils thick. Rubbing compound makes an immeasurable difference. At least with the electronic mil gauge the paint rep had with him that day. (BTW mils aren't mm, they are a measurement of paint thickness standardized by paint companies)

Yes, wet paper will remove material, and technically so does rubbing compound but rubbing compound does NOT do it aggressively enough to be considered as "thinning your paint".

I would raise the flag on that comment save for the small grain of truth in it.

 

^ Thats true but there are many levels of Compounds. From compounds that have agressive abrasives to fine polishes. dont you think Rubbing compound is a little too afressive for this situation?

 

No, not for what I recommended it being used for that is. Since the wax/grease remover will scuff the paint a little, the rubbing compound is required to bring back the lustre. Im assuming he doesn't have a show finished/clay barred ride, otherwise he probably wouldn't have asked this question.

However if he does, after compounding use machine glaze and mircofibre cloth then claybar or wax and you should be good to go.

But yes, if your car is flawlessly detailed and you go at a spot with rubbing compound, it will be duller than the rest because you just went backwards through the process.

And FWIW all compounds contain abrasives, rubbing compound can be had with different grades of it but most major mfr's. (3M, meguiars, etc) rubbing compounds are comparable. Certain "rough cut" grades can be had, but they are usually standalone products, where a true rubbing compound is partof a multi stage system.

 

Im sorry. i guess youre talking about a finer compound. when rubbing compound comes to my mind i think of the old heavy abrasive turtle wax rubbing compounds. IMO finer compounds are called polishing compounds. but each to their own i guess.

 

Worse come to worse... use hammer and chisle....


Just kiding, there are tons of automotive detail products at your local auto parts store that can remove tar, sap... etc

 

a dab of RAINX on a clean cloth


don't knock it
try it

thank me later

I always wax the area after removing the sap

 

going to try the bug remover thing first... rewax the car.

thanks guys... god dang sap.

 

I've personally never tried RainX on sap before, sounds like it might work. However, i've always used rubbing alcohol. It will melt tree sap right off without using claybar, rubbing compound, bug/tar remover, sand paper (heaven forbid), etc. Waxing the tar/alcohol area is recommended.