Cleaning my car?

[Alex1975]

Hi all,

Where I park my car for work there are a load of tall trees all along the road. My car is covered in sap every evening when I come out and I have been leaving it too long between washes. I washed the car last weekend and it just did not get clean. Seemed like there was a lot of tar marks on the side and sap on the roof. I scrubbed and scrubbed and even went at some of them with my nail but just seemed to rub them in.

Do I have to T-cut the car now to get a satisfactory result? Is there a better alternative? does T-Cut take a layer of paint off the car?



Thanks for any advice.


Al

 

[One Planer]

http://www.greasedlightning.co.uk/?gclid=CMPhkZ2ExasCFcMXzQod8lUi3Q

This is advertised on QVC. We tried it on our cars at home and it's the dogs nethers!

 

[bladeplayer]

no T cut wont take the paint off , hard work to t cut it properly tho , dip a cloth in petrol for the tar , works a treat, you could try the petrol on the tree sap , wont do any harm but if the car is badly covered in it , it might be bit much to do with petrol, have you tried car shampoo & a sponge with HOT water ?

 

[CMAC]

TARDIS, works wonders, clay barring your car will also bring it back to new looking paintwork but takes time.

detailingworld.com for expert advice

 

[RGDave]

It's a pain. I have lots of trees and get bad stuff all over my cars.

I use hot water and proper quality wash and wax. Once every 4 months I use "Fenwicks" Caravan Cleaner, which is especially designed to removed algae and naturally occurring substances.

Once a year, I do the whole paint restorer thing. Personally, I only use T-CUT for excessive oxidisation, it's very abrasive in comparison to many products. I use a gentle-ish paint restorer (currently Meguirs), then polish and then carnauba wax on top. Meguirs do a 3 step system, which is good. If you want to get their stuff, check out ebay etc. it's very very expensive in Halfords.

Seriously though; you ought to be able to get sap off without resorting to restorer/polish.

My favourite all-in-on product, which cuts a little, polishes a little and leaves a good finish is Auto-Glym Super Resin Polish. Until I rediscovered Golf, I was well into car shows. It takes a while to work out what is what with all these products.

 

[oakey22]

TARDIS, works wonders, clay barring your car will also bring it back to new looking paintwork but takes time.

detailingworld.com for expert advice

Tardis is good stuff, glad to see someone else into detailing. You ever been on the course on DW? it is good and learns you some great things.

RGDave, SRP is not that abrasive really, its mainly a filler which you can layer, give it 3 coats of SRP and then wax over the top to stop it getting washed away and keep on top of the waxing. FK1000P is a good synthetic wax that is cheap and lasts around 5-6 months. If you want to go full on assault at it though get a Rotary polisher and some 3M stuff, this will rid the scratches and make the car like glass

 

[bigslice]

hire a chainsaw

 

[gripitripit]

http://www.greasedlightning.co.uk/?gclid=CMPhkZ2ExasCFcMXzQod8lUi3Q

This is advertised on QVC. We tried it on our cars at home and it's the dogs nethers!

+1 for this stuff too. Handy if you don't have access to tap or hose..!

 

[USER1999]

I didn't know you could clean cars. News to me. Sounds a lot like hard work. Haven't washed a car for 20 years. Not starting now.

Next you'll be telling me you have to service them.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

We use to have a problem with birds roosting in trees and crapping all over the car. That really does do some damage. Hate to think what they are eating to produce such corrosive poo

 

[Iaing]

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/sealants/carlack-68-nano-systematic-care-various-sizes-/prod_356.html

This is the best cleaner/sealant I've ever came across.

Non abrasive too..purely chemical cleaning and very easy to use.