covered in dots - sap/pollen/etc, baked on

[cwil124]

Hello, for about a year I have been parking in an apartment complex with pine trees and others which gradually rain down debris, covering my car in spots (I will include pictures). Unfortunately, I did not wash the car throughout this time, and they seem to have gotten baked on - recently when I tried, the spots did not come off. I tried alcohol, bug-n-tar remover, and a few others. The best ones could slowly remove them, but for the most stubborn you have to scratch at them enough to scratch the paint. So, it's a difficult situation. I know this is probably a fairly common post, but the usual responses don't seem to be working. Will I have to get professional help? Thank you!

[rowben]

Try using a clay bar. You can apply also a wetting agent.

[Forrest T.]

Clay is a good choice, but if the sap has been baked on for a year, removal will be tough.


Try using turpentine - a small can is but a few dollars as an experiment. Apply to a clean towel and rub gently on a test sap spot and see if it removes it. Since turpentine is distilled from pine tree sap, folks seem to have good luck removing in this manner.


Another possibility is a plastic razor blade followed by clay. But, that's very time consuming.

[admin]

If it were not so dried-on there I'd suggest some WD-40, but what Forrest suggested would be my recommendation as well.

Unfortunately this is a hard lesson resulting in damage that could have been avoided if addressed promptly.