What's the best way to remove Pine Sap from the body without damaging the clear coat?

Pine trees are a PIA.

 

Check with "Bugman" in the "Care Care Products" forum.

 

Lighter fluid works good on road tar with no damage to the paint... Not sure how it would work on pine sap though. Try it and let us know.
Shirl

 

WD-40 will take it off very easily --- onlt down side is You will need to re-Wax when done !!!!!

 

Great stuff that will not damage the paint.

 

I use Goo-Gone or WD-40 as well. I rewax when using both. I usually use it for taking off tire from the track.

Also.. a good clay bar will take all of the junk out of the paint.. you 100% need to rewax after.

I highly recommend the Zaino system. I use the claybar and waxed on both my Torch Red Z and my Black Hummer.. both look excellent.

 

Prep-All surface preparer works great for this. It is specifically made to remove ALL wax and contaminates from your paint before a body shop would re-paint. You should be able to find this at your local auto body supply store. It is the only thing for me that will take out the old scratches on the car before putting on a new coat of Rejex....

 

This may sound silly, and you've probably done this, but, just in case you haven't, for the sap, try just soap and water first. When I had my lake place, during the evening particularly, I'd get sap all over the car. A simple wash with Gold Class car wash and off it would all come. Many kinds of sap are water-soluble. I didn't really know that until I tried it.
Ed

 

 

Very true. I live in east Texas with a lot of pine trees, and most of the time good ole soap and water will take off sap, where other solvents may just smear it around or seal it in.
Water....the universal solvent......

 

Mineral spirits or WD-40 will remove tree sap, without hurting the paint.

 

3M Adhesive remover should do the trick as well. It is available at automotive paint stores.

 

Funny you guys are talking about pine/tree sap. I was talking to a guy that owns a red C5 at the track this evening, and he was telling me how he had tried a lot of different products to remove sap, and tar. To his amazement he said, the only thing that took it right off was using a clay bar. Sometimes trying the easiest things first yields great results. I guess that's the moral of the story
Goose

 

Not the sap from these trees. Sticks like an oil base paint.

Thanks for all the tips everyone. I'll let you all know what turns out to be the best.

 

Hmmm,

The reason I was looking in here to find something that would remove some sort of sap from my wifes van. I tried claybar with no luck. Guess I will try the WD-40 this weekend.

JTK

 

I use turpentine now and it works very well. Before I had learned of it, I did a detail on a light blue metallic suv with a couple of big sap blobs (not little sprinkles) on the top. I used the lube spray that I use with clay, and a razor scrapor. It took a couple of minutes for each blob, but there were no scratches.

 

(Appears like a dark brown/ red coloured raised surface mark) some of the most common resinous tree sap types are: White Pine, Walnut (also secretes an oily residue) Maple, Oak, Popular, and Blue Spruce, none of which are water soluble, the acidic content of the sap will etch the paint surface, causing a concave surface. A lot depends upon the type of sap, which is actually a resin emitted from the tree, the resin deposits can be removed by-

Isopropyl alcohol (IPA), a solvent, or turpentine, which is made from tree resins, in severe cases it can be used to break down the resin in tree sap, use as a last resort only and use sparingly and do not rub hard and give it some time to work or use detailer’s clay. Once you remove the sap deposits, the paint or clear may be cracked, which may entail some expensive refinishing. Factors as to the amount of time it takes to remove sap and what damage it has caused are dependent on temperature and time the sap has been on the paint surface. Be careful and take your time removing it, remember always let the products do the work for you.

Tree sap that is still soft can be removed by soaking with Isopropyl Alcohol (or Stoner’s Terminator) wet the area with the product and allows it to remain on the surface for 3-5 minutes, then wipe with soft dry towel. For tree sap that has hardened, carefully scrape the top of the spot off with a plastic razor blade to expose the softer sap inside.

Apply Zaino’s ZPC Fusion with a foam applicator and then remove residue or soak a towel with the solvent placing it over the sap and let soak for 10-minutes, repeat in order for the solvents to break down the sap, once it’s removed re-apply sealant / wax protection of your choice. If the paint has been etched the surface can be levelled with a suitable polish and then apply a paint protection
Insect honeydew (sometimes mistaken for tree resin(Sap) is excreted by aphids or scale insects that infest the leaves and branches Sticky residue should be removed as soon as possible as it could compromise the clear coat. Remove as per tree sap

Notes:
a) Use caution if you use WD-40 for sap removal, as it contains hydrocarbon solvents, which may compromise the integrity of the clear coat causing it to occlude (clouding or yellowing).
b) Avoid using a QD spray to flush residue, as they contain either carnauba wax or polymer sealants, which will seal the acid and not allow it to dissipate. Using an alkaline rinse of baking soda and water (to neutralize the acid) as soon as is practical is highly recommended, if the affected paintwork is not neutralized any remaining acid residue will be reactivated.
c) If the paint or glass surface has been etched the surface can be levelled with a suitable polish, then apply a paint protection.

 

Wow Jon!
Great info. You just took this to a new level! Someone needs to make this info a sticky.