When you park your car in a park or under a large tree, you might come back and see a spattering of sticky substance coated on your car. It is referred to as tree sap. Tree sap is likely to be an insect honeydew, excreted by aphids in the leaves and branches of a tree. It is composed of sugars and other such waste products that pass through the insects’ bodies undigested. Are you searching for methods to remove tree sap from your car? Search no more.
Here in this article, we have highlighted a complete method of removing tree sap from your car. So, stay attached to us until the end.
Tree sap is vital for the tree but is a pain in the ass for everyone else on the planet. No matter you park your car under a tree or not, tree sap can find its way on your car, truck, or any other vehicle.
Difference Between Tree Sap and Tree Resin
Tree sap is often confused with tree resin. However, these are two different things. You can say that tree sap usually exists in two various forms.
The tree emits sap from the water from the soil through the trunk and is distributed via leaf. The sap consists of life-living sugars that trees require as food. These sugars destroy the paint of your car when you are on a ride.
On the other hand, the resin is a different composition. Although it protects against infections or insects, it is equally harmful to your car’s paint.
Why is it Important to Remove Tree Sap from Your Vehicle?
Getting rid of tree sap is extremely important. It is acidic and can cause severe damage to the pain of your car if not appropriately catered to. Tree sap or resin may not cause damage initially. However, if you ignore it, it will eventually start to eat away surfaces like a clear coat because it contains multiple sugars and acids. Hence, it becomes necessary to address tree sap and get it removed asap; otherwise, it may lead to stains and discoloring.
Having read all this, you might have realized that it is essential to remove tree sap from your vehicle so that you can protect the pain from these specific tree emissions. So, let’s discuss how you can remove tree sap from your car.
How Can You Remove Tree Sap from Your Vehicle?
Let’s now dive into the most crucial part of this article, i.e., how to remove tree sap from your vehicle. Removing tree sap depends on the concentration of the sap; however, the process involves rubbing alcohol or using a bottle of Bug and Tar remover. That’s where many car owners quit the job and walk away, and the damage gets signified.
Why So?
The reason why car owners avoid rubbing with alcohol and Bug and Tar remover is that it is not friendly to clear the coats and other automotive parts. These things are acidic. If the process isn’t handled with care, you may end up causing more damage to the car than the tree sap itself.
That’s why we have listed a complete step-wise procedure for removing the tree sap from your car.
Stuff Needed
- Microfiber Towels (3)
- A box cutter blade
- Rubbing Alcohol or Bug and Tar Remover (1 Bottle)
- Supplies for Washing Your Car
Procedure
Adopt the following procedure to remove tree sap from your vehicle.
1. Wash Your Vehicle
Only small areas of your car may have tree sap, but it is always advised to wash your using the two bucket car washing method thoroughly. Washing the vehicle altogether will remove all loose materials. Sometimes it removes tree sap as well.
2. Dry Your Vehicle
Do not let the water stand once you wash your car. Otherwise, it will cause spots. Dry your vehicle using multiple microfiber towels, a chamois, or a combination of both.
3. Identify the Target Tree Sap
After cleaning your car, locate the area where the tree is stuck to the surface. You can place painters tape near that location. The idea is to identify all the potential areas of the tree sap before starting the removing process.
4. Remove the Tree Sap
Here comes the most critical part of the discussion, i.e., removing the tree sap. You can use two products to remove the tree sap, which are:
- Rubbing alcohol
- Bug and Tar Remover
Rubbing alcohol works best when you want to remove the tree sap from a metal. Whereas Bug and Tar, remover work best for plastic, chrome, or other such materials.
Tree Sap Removal Process
- Take a microfiber towel and pour a few drops of rubbing alcohol or Bug and Tar on it.
- Pat the wet towel on the tree sap and allow it to soak for about 30 seconds. Don’t remove the towel from the sap during this time.
- Keep on rubbing the area gently using the towel until the sap gets removed. You might have to repeat this process quite a few times. Be patient in doing so. You might also have to use elbow grease or even your fingernail to scratch the sap.
4. Rewash those Sap Affected Areas
Once the sap gets removed, rewash, and dry the affected areas of your vehicles. Some experts might advise you to spray some wax to clean that area, but it’s not a good idea because the spray area covers up. Resultantly, the rubbing alcohol residue or Bug and Tar might stuff slowly and eat away the clear coat.
Finally, you have to make sure that your car’s paint gets protected. If you haven’t applied ceramic coating on your car, you will have to reapply the wax or paint sealant on the affected area because the rubbing alcohol and Bug Tar remover will remove the wax.
Ceramic Coating
The best thing to do at this stage is to apply a ceramic coating on your car and get it protected from all such environmental hazards. If you apply a ceramic coating, getting rid of tree sap will become much easier if you experience this problem in the future.
How to Remove Tree Sap from Windows and Windshields?
Tree sap doesn’t land on painted surfaces only; instead, it will sometimes drop and stick on windows or windshield. In this case, never use windshield wipers because they will just spread the sticky substance all over.
To remove tree sap from the windshield, follow the steps discussed above, avoiding the prewash. If the sap gets hard to remove, you can use a box cutting razor or blade to scrap the big stuff off first. Then you can apply the rubbing alcohol or Bug and Tar remover to get rid of the “hazy” stuff. Finally, you can use a glass cleaner to clean the window.
Final Words
If your vehicle has caught tree sap, it is necessary to get it removed asap; otherwise, it may turn out to be hazardous for your vehicle. We hope the procedure discussed above helped you find a meaningful solution to remove tree sap from your car.
If you want to avail our services to get tree sap removed from your car, feel free to get in touch with us. We provide professional tree sap removal services, ensuring that your vehicle maintains its classy and glowing look.