My car just got about 20 little sap droplets all over it. It's still fresh. Should I deal with it now or when it dries? How should I deal with it? With my other car, the sap dried the paint, leached pigment and left the finish spotty for good. I googled the issue online, but all answers assume it is dry sap.
The sooner the better. Try Goo-Gone or Goof-Off. Try them on an out of sight spot first to be sure they won't damage your paint (very unlikely). With a little of the stuff on the spots, try rolling the spots into little balls instead of scrubbing them. You should be able to get most of it off that way, then gently rub the last bit off with G-G or G-O on a rag. Sometime ice will make it brittle enough that it well beak off in a chunk. With as many kinds of sap as there are you might need to experiment.
Another option is "Bugg Off" or a similar product that can be purchased at your local auto parts / discount store. I would take care of it now. IMO, waiting only allows additional dirt and grime to stick to the sap and possibly cause a scratch when you do finally get around to removing them. IMPORTANT NOTE: TEST *ANY* type of cleaner on an inconspicuous location on your car (I like to use the underside of the hood or inside the read deck area behind the panels) to confirm that it will NOT *remove* the paint!!!) The following steps are presented for your consideration: 1. Use a CLEAN cloth that is NON-abrasive. 2. Thoroughly clean the sap off of the paint. 3. WASH the area with a good (preferably earth-friendly) car wash soap (not laundry or dish soap). 4. Protect the cleaned area with a coat of hand applied wax. 5. Buff the waxed area to reveal a clean (sap free) car! The down side is that you may end up wanting to wax the entire car after seeing how good the "spot" looks following the application of wax!
Thanks...I got antsy and did this based on how I handle sap on my hands: Used small plastic spatula to remove the droplets, removed residue with terry cloth dabbed in olive oil, removed olive oil with warm soapy towel, rinsed thoroughly, drove through touchless car wash, found a different place to park until Fall, drove a spike through my neighbor's tree (well, that last part is TBA).
Looked at the car again today and see absolutely no evidence of the sap or of the olive oil having any impact on the paint. I think I found my calling.
