If you’ve cleaned your car in near-perfect condition but cannot get even the most minor drops of stubborn, sticky tree sap to go away, what do you do? Perhaps you believe that any method for sap removal that is more drastic than a thorough clean can damage the paint on your vehicle or clear coat, but did you think that leaving the sap on your car and hoping it will fade away might cause more harm to the car?
Leonard Raykinsteen, the paint engineer at Nissan Leonard Raykinsteen, paint engineer at Nissan, says, “it isn’t easy to determine what the effects in the short term would be, but the sap of trees can certainly cause damage to paint when left untreated for a prolonged duration. . . In general, when it’s hot, the effects of tree sap accelerate.”
So, no matter your anxiety about the need to wax your vehicle yet again, you must remove any sap from your car as fast as possible instead of letting it sit in the sun for too long. After a few months that isn’t wearing off, the sap from the tree will begin to penetrate the coating of clear on your vehicle and leave stains on the paint.
There are many tried and true ways to remove tree sap without causing damage to your paintwork safely. These are only our top recommendedmethods from mobile car detailing experts.
Rubbing Alcohol:
You’d be surprised by the results. Necessary rubbing alcohol is highly efficient in softening and eliminating the sap from your car’s exterior. If you have the bottle in your first aid kit, it’s also a simple repair that doesn’t require a new cleaner.
Make sure to soak a strong shop towel or soft, clean rag in the rubbing alcohol and use it to rub the sap area. Be sure to apply enough rubbing alcohol to dampen the sap without alcohol burning out too quickly and not in a way that it pools on your car or sits for long periods. You can then give it a firm, thorough scrub to eliminate the majority part of the sap.
There are likely to be some spots that won’t let go. After applying rubbing alcohol, they’ll be soft enough to lightly scratch them off using your fingernail or even the edges of an old credit card. Give the area around it one final wipe with alcohol to ensure the sticky residue is gone. Then, polish the room with a wax pad to enhance your car’s protection shine.
Bug as well as Tar Remover:
If the idea of applying rubbing alcohol to clean your vehicle makes you nervous and you’d instead use a product that is specifically designed for your car, Bug and Tar Remover is a good option. It’s specifically designed to eliminate any hardened or sticky substances off your vehicle’s surface, such as bugs, tree sap, and tar splatters left by road construction. Its ability to be used in various ways makes it among the most effective all-purpose cleaners to remove stubborn dirt on your otherwise perfect car.
Use a little of the Bug and Tar Remover onto an unclean cloth or scrub sponge, and then put it over the tree sap, allowing it to absorb in the liquid for at least 30 minutes. You may leave it longer if there is a severe drop of sap, but be sure that the Bug and Tar remover do not dry on your vehicle.
After the sap has finished cleaning the cleaner, rub it until it’s gone. It’s possible to repeat the process several times. When the sap has soft, you can use your fingernail or the edge of your credit card to scrape the remaining sap lightly.
Once the area is spotless, you can wax that area of your vehicle to give it a protective shine.
Contact the experts:
If you’re not able to commit to the removal of tree sap by hand, the final suggestion is to contact CL Auto Detailing! Auto detailing professionals are experts in removing sap and brutal to remove dirt from your car and will be able to wash and polish your vehicle to perfection even if you’ve neglected the soil. Most importantly, mobile detailing services can come to you no matter where you are, which means you don’t need to spend any time on the removal of sap from trees.
