My neighbour has been given a car by her family which has stood for a considerable time under a Sycamore tree. She asked me to pressure wash it down which I duly did and also a good soapy wash down and rinse. When I tried to chamois it down after it was still very sticky and instead of the chamois removing the water marks it has left streaks with fine bits of chamois powder mixed in. Any suggestions how to get rid of the sap other than repeated washing?
Richard
Try this:
Unleaded, about 5 should do it.
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try whatever solvents you've got, just check it won't damage the paint, some do.
Quite hot water can work, but be a heck of a waste of both water and elbow grease. Brian
I have used a product called Autosmart Tardis on tree sap before with very good results but it can be expensive unless you're buying it from a local rep. I think Autoglym do a tar remover which is available from Halfords.
I've not tried it but I've heard WD40 could also help remove it.
It may not be possible depending on the paint system and the tree sap.
Pigeon poo and for example sweet chestnut pollen are both capable of attacking the clear top layer of modern water based automotive finishes. You can buff it out with T-cut and repolishing but it is a lot of work.
If it is still tacky then you still might have a chance of dissolving it again with copious hot water and a wetting agent in profusion. but if it has acid etched into the surface then you have a problem.
Best you can hope for is give it a good hand wash with the hottest water that you can comfortably stand using and then hose it down afterwards. Or hot wash it just before heavy rain is due.
Trying to use a chamois whilst it is still tacky will be disastrous.
Try using a branded car polish that smells of solvent. Usual disclaimers apply...
Surely buying the solvent is many times cheaper, if the OP doesn't have any.
Batshit is very destructive if not removed immediately
Oh, quite true!
But a branded polish gives some measure of back-up against causing damage to the paint (complaint to the manufacturer. etc), and should leave a better finish. A number of polishes are said to be usable without having to wash the car first - these might be the 'showroom shine' types.
The straight solvent might be cheaper, but there's no come-back if it all goes Pete Tong...
just designed to rub the dirt in
Not here it isn't - and I park under a pipestrelle bat roost.
I have this same problem, I just use Polish. Not polish, rather the local Polish hand car wash people. In and out for a tenner.
I always found it funny that some folk are willing to pay 4-10x as much for the same thing. I see a lot of that here.
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