How To Learn How to Get hard water / maybe tree sap residue off

**kage65** · 09-24-2018, 10:57 PM

I guess our highlander got parked under a tree recently. Its been hand washed but I'm finding some spots, one of which I could not get out with either bug remover nor meguires scratch x.
I tried to take a pic but it won't show up on camera. You can only see it in the right light. Is there a course or something I can buy to teach me how to take care of things like this? Tks

**sudsmobile** · 09-24-2018, 11:08 PM

Is it water spots or sap? I'm having a hard deciphering your post with the title you made.

**kage65** · 09-25-2018, 09:19 AM

Originally Posted by sudsmobile

Is it water spots or sap? I'm having a hard deciphering your post with the title you made.

I'm really not sure which it is. It could be either. Tks

**sudsmobile** · 09-25-2018, 09:26 AM

One should be noticeably different. The sap should be a spot you can really feel. Unless you're talking about the stain left behind. If that's the case, either one you're probably going to have to buff out.

**Submariner** · 09-25-2018, 10:21 AM

We live in an extremely hard water area. Note I always final rinse off the car with filtered 0PPM water.

However this summer, someone just parked their car for 3 weeks, in front of our front lawn (fundamentally on my land).

I didnt realise the water sprinker was dosing it every day. Note this was left on for circa 2 to 3 hours every day.

When they came back from Holiday! they rang my doorbell and pointed out there were white marks all down the side of their car.
They came back a few wdays later and complained it wouldnt wash off, tbh I thought it was an effing cheek ... park on my land and then complain my sprinkler had marked their car.

But being in a good mood, I said look try some of this Autoglyms SRP polish ... ooops it virtually did nothing!
Lord knows how, or if he ever managed to get it off.

On the positive side, I noticed, that some white water marks on my car did come off nicely with ProValet Snow foam, admittedly it had only been washed once and rinsed off with a jet washer using normal water and left to dry.

It was Coated in snow, waited 4 mins and then jet washed off!
Now that surprised me as its supposed to be PH Neutral!
But it sure cleaned it nicely.

**sudsmobile** · 09-25-2018, 03:24 PM

Not that it makes any difference to the story, but I'm trying to imagine how somebody parked their car on "your land" for 3 weeks.

**ducksfan** · 09-25-2018, 10:43 PM

Originally Posted by sudsmobile

Not that it makes any difference to the story, but I'm trying to imagine how somebody parked their car on "your land" for 3 weeks.

And I'm trying to imagine the nerve they had to come say something to you about your sprinklers water spotting their car. Lol, gee sorry bud.

Oh, get some isopropyl alcohol and put it on a rag. Gently massage the spot. If it's sap, it will come off. If not, no harm done.

**sudsmobile** · 09-25-2018, 10:51 PM

When he said he used tar remover, that's basically alcohol. It doesn't sound raised to me, it sounds like he's seeing the clear coat etching.

**Submariner** · 09-26-2018, 04:25 AM

Originally Posted by sudsmobile

Not that it makes any difference to the story, but I'm trying to imagine how somebody parked their car on "your land" for 3 weeks.

I live in a little village, that is 3 miles away from a coach trip to Heathrow Airport.
The idiot council has given us a traffic warden, so some people dump there cars here, bet on the coach and avoid paying main airport car charges at £150.

Obviously due to the Trafic Warden, they cant park in the village per se, so pick our quiet no throughway road. My front garden has an indented parking space for 2 cars, useful if you have a dinner party as you can just about squeeze 4 cars onto my main driveway.

I guess they see it as nice safe and secure “free” parking!

**SWETM** · 09-26-2018, 07:48 AM

Originally Posted by Submariner

I live in a little village, that is 3 miles away from a coach trip to Heathrow Airport.
The idiot council has given us a traffic warden, so some people dump there cars here, bet on the coach and avoid paying main airport car charges at £150.

Obviously due to the Trafic Warden, they cant park in the village per se, so pick our quiet no throughway road. My front garden has an indented parking space for 2 cars, useful if you have a dinner party as you can just about squeeze 4 cars onto my main driveway.

I guess they see it as nice safe and secure “free” parking!

He deserved those water spots LOL

If you have tried a tar remover and nothing happened. Have in mind that you will some times get over the tree sap a couple of times if it has hardened or is big. If you are not able to get a water spot remover you could test to saturate the spot with some white vinegar. And see if that desolve the contaminant you have got on your roof. Always don't let any liquid you testing dry on the paint. Use a mf towel that is soaked with a chemical you use and hold it on the spot. Then gently wipe it back and forth and side to side and rinse it off directly. And even go over the wet part of the car with a wash solution and rinse with alot of water. This is to neutralise and rinse the chemical you used completly off the car.

If not anything of this works. I would test a paint cleaner or a cleaner wax/ AIO to see if that desolve the contaminants that you have gotten. If not then it has etched the clearcoat. Claying could get some of the contaminants off too. Start with the least aggressive combo of polish and pads and work your way up in aggressiveness to compound and cutting pad if needed. Just have in mind that the contaminants etched your clearcoat also is a way to say it desolved some off the clearcoat and got it even thinner. So it's much about how deep it etched it. And how aggressive combo you can get away with. It's case by case of the etching and the thickness of the clearcoat you have when starting to polish it.