What products work best for tree sap removal?

 

I second the use of mothers gold claybar. that stuff actually works! it is a bit expensive but worth it IMHO.

 

use the claybar...i've done it. it works great, besides, it's the only safe way to do it without possibly damaging your paint

 

question about the clay bar....does it remove some harden stuff during the winter there was a period when i didnt wash my car (inconvience), and well there's sap, and lots of bugs.....will clay help this.....also some weird *** spots on my paint that wont come off, but if i scrub it hard it does (i know it's a no no) thinking about getting a detailer to clean her up good...

 

use acrysol and it will come off easily

 

3M Prep Solvent 70!

Bugs, tar, wax, grease, sap- it gets all of it without damaging clearcoat or paint (or even interior plastics).

 

The Claybar will remove all sorts of stuff. Get the claybar. and it should come with the mothers gold instant detailer. Spary the instant detailer on the spot you wish to remove. Pass the claybar over it a few times and viola done! Removes, gum, insects, tar, Squirrels, old people and any other stuff you might of picked up while driving

 

Just junk it the cars ruined

 

I second, the clay bar...It does a good job in removing sap. Just make sure you get the sap as soon as possible, becasue it gets baked on with the heat and gets harder to remove.

 

NO! the claybar will NOT remove hardened tree sap. I have the same problem (my driveway is surrounded by pine trees), and I also purchased the Meguires Clay Bar Kit. I had heard good things about it from family and friends so I decided to drop the $20 and give it a shot. I found it to
work very well on recent paint "blemishes" but when i went to use it on the hardened tree sap i found it to be as uselessas the rest of the "bug & tar removers" along with the "adhesive removers" that everybody recomends. My friend who worked for a paint shop for most of his life said that unless you get to the sap while it's still mildly soft, your gonna have to sand, compound and finish. He also said that if and when you get to the sap while it's still soft, you can use REALLY HOT water to take it off and then use a little bit of the "bug & tar remover" (I prefer the one made by 3M) to clean off the residual sap. Also if you're really carefull you can use the corner of a razor blade or your fingernail to scrape off most of the sap and then use the 3M "bug & tar remover" for what's left over. Of course you must be VERY carful with this method because you can obviously scratch your clearcoat or even the paint! I would really recomend a car cover to anybody that plans on keeping their Integra outside for most of it's life. It will probably cost me twice to three times as much to have the paint restored then to simply buy a car cover.

 

When I had that problem on another car, a friend got me a bottle of stuff specifically for tree sap (for the life of me, can't remember the name). It does a good job of softening it up for removal, but know that you'll have to rewax your car afterwards because it takes wax off. Any auto parts store should carry it, it's kind of a whitish-colored liquid in a metal can with a drip-top.

 

Actually I did have the car covered when I went on vacation but when I came back it was on the floor. I was so pissed to see my car covered with tree sap. I'm gonna try the clay bar. Hope it works.

 

Turtle Wax makes a Bug, Tar and Tree Sap remover that works very well, but what you need to do is leave it for a little bit, and then scrub with a cloth. I always made sure I did this right before I washed the car so that it didn't stay on the car for very long. You might have to do more than one application, and you have to rewax as someone else mentioned.

I tried the clay bar kit from Meguires but I never had the clay bars work for me, even though that's what everyone told me to use. The new issue of SSC has an article on detailing and contains the best instructions on using a clay bar that I've seen so it might be worth your while to pick it up.

I dealt with enough Pine Sap, down here the temps in the summer get hot enough to cure the damn stuff in 2-3 hours and the house we were renting when I bought the car had several tall Pine trees around the driveway and no garage.