Hand sanitizer on tree sap... now what?

[iaintnosaintpaul]

Hello,

On the advice of a friend I tried using some hand sanitizer to remove tree sap from the hood of my car. Although it did remove the tree sap it has left something that is hard to describe. I don’t know if there is still tree sap there, or I took off wax or if I actually took off clear coat. I find it hard to believe I did permanent damage as it was on there for less than a minute although I did scrub at it quite a bit. Can anyone give me advice on how to remove this blemish from my hood?

Thanks,

Paul.

[WillSports3]

One of three things happened.
A) That's sap smeared all over your car because the hand sanitizer just got smeared around instead of wiped off.
B) You rubbed too hard and you've scratched the bejebus out of your clearcoat
C) It's just leftover residue from the hand sanitizer.

Steps to take:

A) Try using some saliva. Human saliva is slightly acidic, next time this is a safer option for tree sap. Just spit on your finger and rub in small circles over the spots.
B) If A doesn't work, you've rubbed too hard. A bit of polish on a towel and rub until spot is gone.

[Mike Phillips]

Here's your picture,

https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/attachments/auto-detailing-101-a/70354d1596594469-hand-sanitizer-tree-sap-now-what-49ed20fa-f387-4f3d-81ac-d421744ab959-jpg


If it were me, I could try any of these,


Wet and wipe with water dampened microfiber towel
Wet and wipe with spray detailer
Wet and wipe with car wash soap and wash mitt
Apply an AIO
Apply a polish



:)

[ducksfan]

You know, they only tell you to remove sap with hand sanitizer because almost all hand sanitizers are alcohol based. Maybe next time go straight to isopropyl alcohol.

Put some on a microfiber towel and GENTLY rub the sap. You want to work it wet and you want the iso to chemically breakdown the sap. Very little mechanical abrasion should be needed. It should come up quite easily.

[Rsurfer]

[QUOTE=ducksfan;1685617]You know, they only tell you to remove sap with hand sanitizer because almost all hand sanitizers are alcohol based. Maybe next time go straight to isopropyl alcohol.




What's the difference between alcohol based and isopropyl alcohol?

[DUBL0WS6]

Depends on what is used to make the alcohol. Methanol is wood based, isopropyl is oil based.

[ducksfan]

[QUOTE=ducksfan;1685617]You know, they only tell you to remove sap with hand sanitizer because almost all hand sanitizers are alcohol based. Maybe next time go straight to isopropyl alcohol.




What's the difference between alcohol based and isopropyl alcohol?

Well, with respect to what you quoted, i would say the extra ingredients in the hand sanitizer that don't contribute to removing the sap. I personally don't see any point in using more than the ingredient that's doing the job.

[DUBL0WS6]

I think I'd use a wax and tar remover for sap since it can be kinda sticky.

[jdgamble]

I think I'd use a wax and tar remover for sap since it can be kinda sticky.

Yeah TarX takes sap right off. That’s the solution for next time.


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[AutowerxDetailing]

Denatured alcohol works significantly better than isopropyl alcohol to remove almost any kind of tree sap.

[spazzz]

Last weekend I used Sonax BSD as an experiment for a 'detailer' on my sons car after parking under a honey locust tree.

It cut through the little bumps effortlessly. I was somewhat surprised with the results.
The car is my test bed for a minute before we polish it.

[LSNAutoDetailing]

I go with Mike’s suggestions. Never use something on your vehicle that wasn’t designed for your vehicle.

Secondly never aggressively go at something if you don’t know the outcome.

Yesterday there was a series of stringy gummy things of tar or some foreign substance on my coated mustang. It may have been tar, it may have been chewing gum for all I know.

I grabbed an MF and lightly saturated a spot on the towel about the size of my finger tip with tarminator. A product I’ve used dozens and dozens of times on all different cars. I gingerly spread it on the foreign substance, applying no pressure, and the substance loosened.

I then went over it with another MF, loads of ONR, then another MF and QD. I had to do this in about 4 locations. No issues, no scratches, coating and clear intact.

Don’t go by wives tales, use tried and true products. You may need to just lightly polish that spot with an AIO as Mike suggests.


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[ducksfan]

Denatured alcohol works significantly better than isopropyl alcohol to remove almost any kind of tree sap.

Interesting. I'll have to try that.

Is that because of chemical composition or because of alcohol concentration levels?

[Epilogts]

Denatured alcohol and isopropyl alcohol are the same thing aside from additives added to the alcohol to make it toxic to drink. Please don’t drink Isopropyl alcohol either but the base for denatured alcohol could be fit for “drinking” before it’s denatured. Bottom line is for cleaning purposes alcohol is alcohol depending on concentration/purity.

[WillSports3]

I agree with you 100 percent Paul. Never use the most aggressive method. For example in Interiors, I 99 percent of the time don't use APC. My favourite cleaner of choice is McKee 37 Rinseless wash in an IK foamer at a 1:65 dilution ratio and a soft brush. Let dwell for a minute or two then agitate.



I go with Mike’s suggestions. Never use something on your vehicle that wasn’t designed for your vehicle.

Secondly never aggressively go at something if you don’t know the outcome.

Yesterday there was a series of stringy gummy things of tar or some foreign substance on my coated mustang. It may have been tar, it may have been chewing gum for all I know.

I grabbed an MF and lightly saturated a spot on the towel about the size of my finger tip with tarminator. A product I’ve used dozens and dozens of times on all different cars. I gingerly spread it on the foreign substance, applying no pressure, and the substance loosened.

I then went over it with another MF, loads of ONR, then another MF and QD. I had to do this in about 4 locations. No issues, no scratches, coating and clear intact.

Don’t go by wives tales, use tried and true products. You may need to just lightly polish that spot with an AIO as Mike suggests.


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