Tree sap on paintwork

[TicklyT]

Has anyone got any tips for removing tree sap from car paintwork?
I just can't seem to shift the stuff with regular cleaning, unless I attack the thing with a brillo pad or something.

Or should I just get the thing resprayed a matt khaki colour so it doesn't show so much?

 

[Belle427]

if a good polish such as autoglym wont shift it you will need to use something like a clay bar,halfrauds usually sell it in the meguires polish range,its rubbed over the paint after applying a lubricant and it removes most crud

 

[marshman]

WD40 spray it on the sap rub it in with your hand then wipe with a soft rag if been there a while
some of it might need second spray and rub.
wash your car as you normally would.

 

[simoniris]

Autoglym Clean Wheels [white bottle, orange label] will fetch anything off. About 8 quid a spray bottle.
Be very careful, don't let it dry o the paint as it's acidic.
I use it across the front of my car [3 year old Audi so don't worry, I'm not recommending a treatment only suitable for a 25 year old Cavalier!] to get tree sap, damson juice [it get's parked under a damson tree and those things are sappy as hell], flies and tar off when I wash.
I wet the car with water, squirt liberally all over it, leave for 5 minutes and then rub over with a sponge or one of those big soft car brushes [better if stubborn].
Comes off a treat!
Just remember that you WILL NEED to wax the paint afterwards, again, best with Autoglym.

 

[JohnD]

I am assuming you have already tried sponging it down with a stronger mix of car shampoo, with no effect?

it sounds to me like the WD40 option is the only one that won't abrade away your paint or risk corrosion of metal parts. I don't know what an acid cleaner will do to the protective zinc layer on the steel of most cae bodywork, when ir is exposed by a scratch or chip in the paint.i

Am I right?

 

[simoniris]

Doesn't seem to have done any damage to my car and I have been doing it for years, over all the stone chips on the front etc. It is quite a new car with presumably good paint process though so stands up to it well?
Clean Wheels is a cleaning product designed for cars, specifically for getting brake dust off wheels but it does wonders on flies, tar & sap.
It may be that it's not so much tree sap left on the paint that's your problem. You may have got it all off but it eats into the top layer of paint and causes it to 'wrinkle' and that's what you're seeing. If that's the case no amount of cleaning will sort the job out.

 

[Belle427]

autoglym intensive tar remover is another that springs to mind,personally i wouldnt put the clean wheels anywhere near the paintwork

 

[kevindgas]

autoglym intensive tar remover is another that springs to mind,personally i wouldnt put the clean wheels anywhere near the paintwork

i would agree on this as i use it to remove allsorts of crud off the car and the van.

 

[simoniris]

Trust me! It works a treat and has not done any damage to the paintwork, I've been doing it for years, on the audi, the volvo before and the range rover before that!!! It may just be my laziness - I have the intensive tar / bug remover stuff - but the clean wheels is quicker!