Keeping our vehicles maintained is one thing while keeping them clean and shining is another. Most of us love to clean our vehicles by ourselves and while doing so we clean the dust, mud & dirt particles. But there is one thing that sticks to the car every now and then and most of us just find it irritating and hard to clean.
Yes, you guessed it right. ‘Tree sap’ is a more often sight for those who love to park their cars under ‘the lap of nature’.
Although, tree sap is not instantly damaging for the car paint, but if not taken care of with time, it will lead to etching and fading away of the car paint. The density of a tree’s sap varies from tree to tree, thus damaging effects can’t be same. So, in order to clean and keep your car protected from tree sap following these steps can help you effectively.
THINGS NEEDED
- 2 Clean cotton clothes and micro fiber clothes
- Box Cutter Blade (Only to be used on glass area)
- 1 Bottle of Bug & Tar remover or Rubbing Alcohol
- Wax Detailing (Liquid or Spray Wax)
WHAT TO DO?
>Wash and clean your vehicle to work on.
>Pour a few drops of remover over the area of sap using a terry cloth. Also commonly used is rubbing alcohol.
>Set the cloth over the spot area and let it be there for at least 30 seconds.
>Rub the area until sap is removed. In case of high density sap, repeat the process 3 to 4 times.
>If still present, rub the sap with your fingers (it won’t scratch the paint)
>When surface becomes sap free, use the wax to detail with a clean cloth the sap area to clean and shine to rest of the car paint.
GLASS AREA SAP
If the sap present on the windshield is still fresh, avoid using the wipers. It will instantly make a long sticky mark blocking your vision.
For removing the sap, use the same process as above stated except use a glass cleaner in the last step instead of the wax product.
Another method is to use a sharp box cutter blade to remove the sap in a few seconds. It is better to use over a hardened sap. If the rear windshield gets a sap, wait for a day or two to get it hard and then use the box cutter blade. Just make sure that the blade is flat to the glass to not scratch it.
Hoping to help you, these are the effective measures that need careful handling for removing the tree sap.