Trees are beautiful, aren’t they? But the beauty of changing leaves and the gentle crunching under your feet in the fall doesn’t negate the frustrating, annoying and downright sticky mess that tree sap can create when it manages to drip all over your car. No one wants to head to get some car window tinting Ottawa with tree sap all over their great paint job, so you’ll want to tackle your sap problem before you head to get your car detailed–or anywhere else.
There are a lot of potential remedies for tree sap on your car out there, ranging from methods that your dad and grandpa swore by; but the best way to remove tree sap will really depend on how much sap is on your car and how soon you can tackle the problem.
If You Can Clean Right Away…
If you’ve discovered the sap relatively soon after it’s dripped onto your car, then you’re in luck: this means you’ll have a much easier time removing the still wet sap from your car. The first thing you need to do is hand wash your car with warm water; the warm water is the key here, since warm water will soften the sugars in the sap and help with the removal. Hand wash the car until all the sap and residue is removed.
If It’s Been Sitting Out…
Unfortunately, it’s more common to find sap once it’s already been sitting on your car and dried into a crusty, sticky mess. This can leave behind a terrible residue if you don’t clean it properly, so don’t give into the temptation to start scrubbing just yet. First, you need to do a gentle hand wash with warm water as you would with fresh sap; then, use a special paint-friendly solvent spray and soak your clean microfiber cloth (or clothes) in the liquid. Put the clothes on the areas with the dried up sap and let it sit for a while. This will soften up the sap. Then, using the clean side of the cloth, wipe down the sap to remove tit from your car. You may need to do this a few times to get everything up.
Finally, wipe down your car with another clean microfiber cloth and a professional car detailing Ottawa approved cleaning spray.
If your paint job has been damaged, you’ll need to take your car in for some auto detailing Ottawa to ensure that any damage is promptly repaired.