Did you buy a car recently? This handy guide on tree sap will save you thousands of dollars. Why? Your car's cosmetics are 30% of its value and repainting your car can cost you thousands of dollars.
How Tree Sap Damages Your Car
Whether you live in the Bay Area, California, or anywhere where there are trees, from springtime to late summer, your car will be bombarded by pollen and tree sap. Tree sap consists of water, minerals, hormones, enzymes, and various organic compounds that concentrate on your car's paint once the water starts evaporating from the tree sap after it embeds onto your car's surface. Over time, tree sap penetrates the clear coat causing discoloration, staining, etching, and eventual cracking. Sunlight and heat can accelerate this process making tree sap harder to remove as time passes.
Where to Park To Prevent Tree Sap Damage
To prevent tree sap damage, especially during spring and summer time, park your car in your garage, in a shaded parking lot, or in direct sunlight. Direct sunlight can cause oxidative damage to the car's exterior and interior but it will reduce the chances of your car being sprayed by tree sap.
Get Rid of Tree Sap As Soon as Possible
If your car has tree sap embedded on its surface, move it to a cool and dry location as soon as possible while keeping the surface warm. Then, liberally use goo-gone or alcohol-based cleaners in conjunction with a soft microfiber towel to gently remove the tree sap from the surface. After that, rinse the surface with deionized or soft water to prevent any cleaner residue from building on the surface.
Don't DIY Hardened Tree Sap on Your Car
If the tree sap has been embedded in your car for a few days to a week, more than likely the sap has hardened and this would require professional removal of the tree sap. To give an idea, the professional process involves carefully cracking, employing heat, and specialized cleaners to get rid of the tree sap. Removing tree sap yourself can be challenging since improper or partial removal can further scratch and embed tree sap onto the surface. Professional services can start getting pricier as time passes on cars with tree sap. Additionally, the car may need to be polished after tree sap removal to remove scratches and swirls caused by tree sap removal.
When Is It Too Late?
If the tree sap is left to stay on the car's surface for weeks to months, the tree sap may have eaten through the clear coat and caused permanent damage to the paint. Not only does it become a risk to remove tree sap on a severely neglected car but also may require a complete paint job on the panels that have tree sap on them. The top pictures in this blog show permanent non-reparable damage tree sap can cause exacerbated by the customer trying to DIY it.
Get a Ceramic Coating As Soon as Possible
Though waxes and sealants can help with tree sap for a very short time, currently the best way to help mitigate tree sap damage is to install a ceramic or graphene coating on your car. These coatings chemically bond with the car's paint and make the painted surfaces chemically inert. Additionally, the coatings can serve as a sacrificial barrier between the car's paint and tree sap.
Whether you're looking to remove tree sap from your car or looking for a short-term wax or a long-term coating solution to prevent tree sap damage on your car, give us a call at 707-681-5944, email at info@robustd.com, or book our services right away.