# Car Care Question: Getting Rid of Sap

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-care-question-getting-rid-of-sap/129790>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 26, 2002, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-care-question-getting-rid-of-sap/129790 "2002-09-26T23:58:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\
**Post date:** [September 26, 2002, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-care-question-getting-rid-of-sap/129790/1 "2002-09-26T23:58:11Z")

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I have about two seasons’ worth of sap on my car, and the bug/tar/sap remover I bought at Auto Zone® isn’t helping at all.

Any ideas on how to remove very old, very dried sap from a car?

TIA

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**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-care-question-getting-rid-of-sap/129790/2 "2002-09-27T00:54:50Z")

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[Here](http://www.startribune.com/stories/397/2905297.html) is an article on how to do it. They recommend WD40 or baby oil if wax doesn’t work.

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**Author:** ![intrigante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b19c9b/32.png) [@intrigante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/intrigante)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-care-question-getting-rid-of-sap/129790/3 "2002-09-27T02:35:42Z")

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You can also use naphtha (available at any Ace or TrueValue hardware) Very cheap, and won’t harm the finish. Do not let them switch you to acetone or methyl ethyl ketone, which soften auto paint.

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**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-care-question-getting-rid-of-sap/129790/4 "2002-09-29T22:17:49Z")

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First of all, it’s not sap. That stuff on your car when you park under a tree is aphid poop. It is also known as honeydew. Ants grow aphids, storing their eggs in their burrows in winter. In the spring, the ants carry freshly hatched aphids up into the trees, where the aphids suck the juices out of the trees. The ants troup up and down the trunk, sucking up the sweet aphid poop and barfing it up to feed the ant larvae down in the nest. The aphids don’t hold their poop for the next ant, and the surplus falls on your car. The crap is mostly sugar, and once it hardens, it can be removed with very hot water and dish detergent. It may take a long time and a lot of rubbing with a cloth or sponge. This will probably take off all your wax, too.

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**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-care-question-getting-rid-of-sap/129790/5 "2002-09-30T14:44:49Z")

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I just hit them with a wood handle of a tool, gently. the things then come off…