Help - Tree Sap
 

I was washing the car over the weekend and found some baked on tree-sap on my hood! Damn Damn Damn. When I see that and bird poop, I wash it off right away. But this was clear tree sap and I did not notice it. It must have been there for a long time and with the engine heat and sun, it's on there and I have not been able to get it off despite lots of elbow grease, wax and polish. I even managed to scratch the surrounding paint a little. Shit Shit Shit.

Any suggestions in what I can use??? TIA.

I've had luck w/isopropyl alcohol on other cars...

A batch of Yahoo links here:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=Rem...&cop=&ei=UTF-8

GL,mD

Have you tried a paint cleaning clay?

JV

Isopropyl alcohol is THE best way to get it off.

it's .99 at the drug store, just make sure it's ISOPROPYL and not some other flavor.

Load up a rag with it and hold it firmly on the sap to soften it up. It might take a few applications, once it softens up CAREFULLY wipe it off, taking special care to not smear it on the paint.

Once it's removed, wash the area with a good car soap (mequiars or similar) and then load it up with a couple of coats of good wax.

1- wash with Liquid Dawn
2- Clay car
3- Use a prep sol product if needed

I have used a BMW cleaning product for removing tar - just wipe it on, wait a couple of minutes and wash it off - removes all sap etc etc.

The worst thing you can do is keep rubbing it, as you have probably discovered. Even when wet, you'll put loads of surface scratches over the car.

Best thing you could do now is to remove it as explained above, then use some T-cut polish (the same colour as the car) to work on the surface scratches you have put in.

Thanks guys. I will try one or all of the above!

Try HOT soapy water on a small rag. Let it sit/soak for a minute then wipe away with a dry soft cloth. Repeat again if necessary. The hotter the better as the heat literally thins & melts away tree sap. My wife's black 330i gets covered in pine sap all the time and it works like a charm with no residual swirls or scratches at all. Just remove the sap quickly and don't let it sit on the finish for days on end. If you do, don't be surprised to see the clear coat being lightly damaged by the resins in the sap. Just my 2 cents...

Goo Gone works very well too. You have many ways of attack my friend.

That's what I used recently. Use a soft cloth not a paper towel. The paper towel breaks apart and then you have sap and bits of paper towel stuck to the paint instead of just the sap. Wash off the residual Goo Gone as soon as your done.