Tree sap removal

[miniwilly]

Hi.

I'm soon to be Minified, hopefully next week, and have one nagging concern: tree sap. It's all but ruined most of our cars - I can sometimes get it removed from glass, but once on paint it just stays there. The only surefire way to get rid of it is to scrape it - and I aint doin that with my new Coop!

I can't be alone here - the car will be sat under our pine tree, and we don't have a garage. Has anyone come across a secret method (apart from washing it away as soon as it falls...)?

Cheers

Will

[DaveN]

ah yes the pine tree problem - if its not sap it's pineneedles and if it's not pine needles its pigeon . The usual waxes help - Autoglym, Meguiars -by providing a protective barrier. I'm also considering a car cover - see FAQ. If you get the big blobs of sap I've found that Tar Remover (Autoglym) is effective. Other than that, just try to avoid parking there or chop the thing down.

Cheers
Dave

[miniwilly]

Cheers Dave, I'll bear those waxes in mind. Have considered a car cover - just depends if I'll be ar**d to put it on! I think I probably will...once I see my Coop baby, I won't want *anything* near it

[zyo]

The only product you need to make sure your paint will stay sap free and like glass to the touch(smooth ...not sharp and jaggedy)is Meguiars clay bar with quick detailer.I've never found any cleaning product that actually does what it says until i used this stuff.You spray a bit of the quick detailer on ,its like a fine mist,and then you get the clay bar which looks like a white piece of plasticine and rub it gently over the surface of your paintwork with hardly any pressure.Its like magic.All the rubish just sticks to the clay bar.When the bit your using gets dirty just nead it to a clean side.I thought i was stuck with the abrasive finish i seemed to have on my MINI almost from the day i picked it up but this stuff just took it all away.I just did a search for MEGUIARS on msn and then ordered it online i think it was about £11.99 with free post.Try it you will be impressed.

[miniwilly]

Fantastic, thanks zyo. Sounds worth a shot

Cheers

[zyo]

You're welcome.I know i might sound like an advert for the stuff but you know when you find something really good and you just want to tell everyone else about it.There is a thread on here i think its called"Meguiars ...wow" i think its under maintenance....Oh and if you do invest in it you'll need some 100%cotton terry towelling to wipe the stuff on and off.At first i was gonna buy some nappies but they were to expensive so i got a babies bath towel from asda for £3 and cut that up.Who'd a thunk i'd be discussing nappies on Mini 2.com.

[sexycooper]

I am experiencing this problem of tree sap at the moment! I have tried autoglym, turtlewax bug remover - nothing works. But I read that someone else had used methylated spirt to get tree sap off. I gave it a go and it works - I think it must dissolve the sap or something. You don't have to use very much at a time and just make sure you rinse it off. Obviously, as everyone else has said just use the normal products, but if it happens that you realise that you have got it all over your car and haven't had time to wash it for a while, this is a very trusty product to be sure to get it off!

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't too keen on the idea of using m.spirit but it was my last resort and thankfully it worked. I will be waxing my cooper up so much after I have got all the sap off, so hopefully I won't have to go through this again : )

[Wul]

I'll second the vote for meguiars quick clay - works wonders for all surface contaminates like tar spots and tree sap.

But don't waste the quick detailer for claying - mix a double strength solution of car wash - put it into a squirty bottle and hey presto - clay lube the cheap way. Then you can use the quick detailer to keep your pride and joy looking super shiney after washing it!

[miniwilly]

All good advice, cheers all!