i was up in the mountains in new york a few weeks ago and got sapped on both the hood and my windshield. these little guys are not terribly big, but they are annoying...

i have tried to get them off with sap and bug remover from the local auto store, and i just clayed the car and when i was claying the sap on the hood it didn't budge an inch. i didn't go too hard because i was afraid of scratching...

any good ideas on what i should use to get this junk off?

any help is super duper appreciated!

 

I am sapped constantly. If it is fresh, I just use a squirt of baby oil and rub it off. If it is baked on, I use a bug-and-tar remover, but you have to let it soak for a while, then rub it off (I often use my fingernail covered with cloth to scrape gently). Then when you can't get any more off, soak it again and repeat.

 

Clay should get it off - you might have to make lots of passes, but if it's on top of the clearcoat then it SHOULD come off eventually. If you're claying, the material should skate across the surface (hydroplane, actually, on top of your lube) - it feels like it's not doing anyhting but it is. Don't be surprised if it takes several minutes of patient rubbing to see any difference - after all, the benefit of the clay is that is IS so gentle.

You could also trty soaking the sap with hot tap water first - use a soft cloth, soak it with hot water and then put the cloth on te sap for a minute or two Swap the cloth for new when it cools - maybe the heat will soften the material ebnough for you to lift a bit with your cloth, and THEN you can clay the residue off.

Instead of baby oil you can try WD40 as wel - I use WD40 to remove tenacious badge glue and it wipes right off the clearcoat after dissolving glue, so maybe it will work on sap as well...

 

Try kerosene or mineral spirits.

 

Let me just add, that you don't want to leave sap on your car for any length of time. I've seen some horrendous etchings from tree sap. Just this past weekend at my Saturday clinic, was a black Lexus LS430 with thousands of pits over all the horizontal surfaces--wetsanding couldn't fix the problem, and then that's when we pulled out the magnifying loupe and realized these looked like thousands of pinholes in the paint. Even with the swirls and scratches out, the holes couldn't be fixed.

 

I have to park under a 110 year old Monterey Pine. My driveway, city's tree. Anyway, after a lot of experimentation, rubbing alcohol works as well as anything I have tried. Goo Gone (NOT Goof-Off!) or other citrus oil cleaners work pretty well, too. Have not tried the baby oil or WD-40 as a detailer I work with at my office suggested the rubbing alcohol on a clean soft cloth.

 

I would suggest a saw, a beaver or some termites!
I have an Aspen tree over our driveway that, if it doesn't get it's act together, is headed for the fireplace.

 

I'll put in a 'second' for Bug N Tar remover... a Turtlewax product. It's packed with organic solvents to help dissolve the sap and has some light abrasives in it to help out too. It will remove the wax or sealant in the area along with the sap, so be sure to re-wax or re-seal.

 

AND be careful with the Turtle Wax bug/tar remover on areas near black trim - it WILL stain it.

I recently found a product at OSH by a company called "Gunk", it's also an auto bug/tar remover, but it's a clear liquid consistency instead of the creamy/lotiony consistency of the Turtle Wax stuff...easier to remove, didn't stain the trim, and just a lot nicer to work with.

 

I've used 90% isopropyl alcohol with great success. It is cheap and very pure and clean.

Of course, you will have to wax again, but the alcohol does a great job of dissolving most organic residues.

 

Started using a factory MINI car cover for tree sap and possible bird poop protection. Think skuffed wax will fix easier than sap or poop damage. Anybody ever have trouble from factory cover.......

Just dumped a whole bottle of B&T for the clay. Solvent if the clay won't get it, but clay sure seems to do better. B&T never would take of petrified bug leftovers. Clay do!