hardened tree sap

[richy]

The last car I did had a glob of hardened tree sap on the back bumper's upper edge, which is only about 3.5 or 4" wide. The clay (I tried 2 different ones) wouldn't do it. Wet sanding wouldn't do it. I couldn't get that bloody blob off! Then I tried a straight razor blade and kept skimming layers off until I got right down to the paint. Bottom line? Completely gone and no trace! Just wanted to share:D

[AUdakota]

i had that problem one time and I decided to let the pressure washer sit on it and low and behold it came right off, along with about 1 square inch of paint off my fender flares

[ScottB]

I soak it for two-three minutes with some Poorboys Bug Squash and then it usually just pops right off.

[White95DodgeRam]

very good info to know i was wondering how id get the pine sap off my 78!

[turbos17]

Turtle Wax's -Bug and Tar Remover! That stuff is amazing! Plus it is an OTC product!

[Jimmie]

A friend of mine had some sap on his BMW for at least two months. He came over last week and we got it off with two apps of "Stoners Tarminator". It looks like it disolves it. After the first app it was a smaller blob.

[mongo22]

Denatured alcohol works great for me. It cleans up tree sap, most grease stains as well as disinfects. I found it pretty safe on just about anything and it evaporates almost instantly. I keep a gallon can of it around the house for lots of different cleaning projects.

[richy]

Denatured alcohol works great for me. It cleans up tree sap, most grease stains as well as disinfects. I found it pretty safe on just about anything and it evaporates almost instantly. I keep a gallon can of it around the house for lots of different cleaning projects.
Is that the same as Isopropyl alcohol? I have some 50/50 mix of that.

[mongo22]

Denatured alcohol and Isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) are very simular and will both remove tree sap. I happen to use denatured because we use it at work alot for prepping surfaces to be masked off for painting. This is mostly latex (water ) based paints. Ive been a house painter and faux painter for many years so Ive allways had gallons of denatured alcohol, paint thinner and lacquer thinner around. You can buy it at any paint store or Home Depot and Lowes type places.

Another great use for denatured alcohol is removing hardened latex paint. If you have any splatters or extra paint on surfaces you dont want, it will soften it and you can clean it up without hurting the surface underneath. Im allways finding a new use for that stuff! So, yes Isopropyl alcohol will remove tree sap quite well but you might want to use it full strength on some of the more hardened spots.

[Tropicality]

I was at a local automotive store today and they sold me some "alcohol stove burning fuel "Methyl Hydrate" (99.9% pure)" is this the same as isopropyl alcohol?

And does anyone wanna tell me that its ok to go putting on any kind of car paint without doing any harm?? (even older paint such as 15 year old paint)

Also what are all of its uses? Cleaning tar/sap and old wax etc. off of the surface? Or to check if a product you just used contains any fillers and only hid the blemish instead of corrected it? Any others?

[Nica]

I agree with mongo22, I did a big truck and it was covered with tree sap and after trying everything I used Isopropyl alcohol full strength and it worked just fine. I'll be using this from now on...oh another thing that was recomended to me, I haven't tried it just yet, was to use warm water to soften it...I don't know how well this will work but I'll give it a try next time I get a vehicle with a bunch of tree sap.

[Tropicality]

Well I'm glad I went and did a little bit of research and learned that I bought a 4 gallon container of Methanol (even before reading what is below I did not realize how dangerous it is).

Did a bit of searching and found this:


Methyl hydrate is also known as methanol, methyl alcohol or wood alcohol. Denatured alcohol is almost pure ethanol, also known as ethyl alcohol, plain alcohol, grain alcohol, moonshine or sippin' whiskey. Stuff is added to ethanol to make it either distasteful or poisonous to make it denatured. Sometimes, and there are dozens of ways to denature ethanol, methanol is added to ethanol. This makes it poisonous. Methanol is highly poisonous and is rather readily absorbed through the skin while ethanol is only moderately poisonous and not as easily absorbed. Consuming methanol will lead to blindness, convulsions and death at a fairly low level of consumption. Methanol is also more flammable than ethanol. It is therefore not a good substitute for denatured alcohol.

Always wear neoprene gloves while using it. Interestingly methanol goes through latex like it was tissue paper, so latex gloves don't help. Also interestingly, methanol passes right through most respirators, even those meant for solvents. You need a delivered air system for safe exposure to methanol vapors.

Well knowing this I almost want to take it back and go get Isopropyl alcohol from a drug store instead...

[Nica]

Tropicality, that sounds dangerious dude...I'd stay away from it...but good info.

[devst8]

and old trick is to use 7up :)

[Nica]

7up? Really...how does that help?

Could you elaborate on it :D