Best choices for durable tree sap protection

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phrider

New member
My wife's white Volvo XC 70 sees daily duty at a horse stable in hot areas of Los Angeles. Every summer the car gets tree sap, insects, and dust accumulations that are difficult to clay bar off. Autoglym bug and tar remover makes slow progress on this stuff.



The car is a daily driver (the horses get detailed everyday), so it is tough to corner the car for even biweekly shampoos. In my dreams, something with 4-6 months or longer durability on the paint protection would be ideal -- because I'm not going to get to do a detail more often than that.



What is the state of the art is sealant or wax that offers the longest, strongest protection from this type of sap, bug, and dust assaults?



UPGP?

FK1 1000p?

CG JetSeal?

Or???



And while I'm at it, what's the longest durability product (in a hot climate) for the textured black cladding on these XC Volvos?
 
Park somewhere else or get a car cover. Seriously. That is your only real long term solution. Sap is extremely hard on both waxes and sealants, especially if it is pine sap.
 
She's 5 feet, and always in a hurry. The car is 6 feet. We try the car cover as much as we call in the sap season. Since it is at a stable, it gets dirty every exposure, so frequently the car cover on top of a very dusty car probably adds to the damage.



The problematic sap is probably sycamore trees -- not pines.



We need a back / second best solution. Which of the existing sealants/ waxes might be the best of the lot on "sap management"?
 
phrider said:
She's 5 feet, and always in a hurry. The car is 6 feet. We try the car cover as much as we call in the sap season. Since it is at a stable, it gets dirty every exposure, so frequently the car cover on top of a very dusty car probably adds to the damage.



The problematic sap is probably sycamore trees -- not pines.



We need a back / second best solution. Which of the existing sealants/ waxes might be the best of the lot on "sap management"?
Click to expand...



It ain't gonna happen.



:nono
 
phrider said:
My wife's white Volvo XC 70 sees daily duty at a horse stable in hot areas of Los Angeles. Every summer the car gets tree sap, insects, and dust accumulations that are difficult to clay bar off. Autoglym bug and tar remover makes slow progress on this stuff.



The car is a daily driver (the horses get detailed everyday), so it is tough to corner the car for even biweekly shampoos. In my dreams, something with 4-6 months or longer durability on the paint protection would be ideal -- because I'm not going to get to do a detail more often than that.



What is the state of the art is sealant or wax that offers the longest, strongest protection from this type of sap, bug, and dust assaults?



UPGP?

FK1 1000p?

CG JetSeal?

Or???



And while I'm at it, what's the longest durability product (in a hot climate) for the textured black cladding on these XC Volvos?
Click to expand...



Just choose a pure Polymer Sealant. There are a ton out there, and the differences between the best are going to be marginal. Just be sure to apply it over a pre-polished/cleaned surface. As Scott said, sap is very corrosive. Be sure, even with the sealant to remove any sap ASAP.
 
1000P.



I would personally use Duragloss 601 followed by 105 and AW. Lasts very long , shine is incredible.
 
To simply answer your question, there is no wax/sealant that you can throw on that will likely survive even more than a week or two of that, much less a month. Tree sap, bird bombs, and water spots eat through any wax/sealant in only a matter of hours depending on the wax. The key is that they make it easy to remove the containment with a quick detailer instead of etching themselves in the paint itself meaning instead of polishing the etching out, you just simply top off the wax protection.



I would highly recommend Meguiar's NXT 2.0. At work my car is bombarded by either tree sap/dust or bird poo. It sits all day out in the sun before I can reach it, so when I get back home in my garage, I just quickly go over it with a quick detailer, and that will usually take care of all my problems. Once a week, I top it off with the NXT spray wax, and do a whole rewax whenever I feel like it really (which is usually every few months or so). I do maintain it with their Ultimate Quick Detailer. The once a week waxing with the spray only takes about 10 minutes to do for me making it a quick and easy solution.





So as they say, maintenance is the best form of protection.
 
Wolf-Strong said:
To simply answer your question, there is no wax/sealant that you can throw on that will likely survive even more than a week or two of that, much less a month. Tree sap, bird bombs, and water spots eat through any wax/sealant in only a matter of hours depending on the wax. The key is that they make it easy to remove the containment with a quick detailer instead of etching themselves in the paint itself meaning instead of polishing the etching out, you just simply top off the wax protection.



I would highly recommend Meguiar's NXT 2.0. At work my car is bombarded by either tree sap/dust or bird poo. It sits all day out in the sun before I can reach it, so when I get back home in my garage, I just quickly go over it with a quick detailer, and that will usually take care of all my problems. Once a week, I top it off with the NXT spray wax, and do a whole rewax whenever I feel like it really (which is usually every few months or so). I do maintain it with their Ultimate Quick Detailer. The once a week waxing with the spray only takes about 10 minutes to do for me making it a quick and easy solution.





So as they say, maintenance is the best form of protection.
Click to expand...



A agree about the maint. being the best protection.



I have a few ?'s for you and will PM you so it does not get off topic for the author.
 
Anyone have experience with FinishKare's 714 cleaner (in their professional line) for sap removal? Or Autoglym's tar remover?
 
I'd say have her park away if possibe, get a good detail in, and wash the car weekly.



One of my buddies lives right under a huge pine tree. He offers me to park my car in his driveway because he knows how anal I am, and I'll say that's cool.. I'll park on side and just walk.



I seen his car. He also owns a Volvo. Paint is horrible!
 
Fallguy said:
1000P.



I would personally use Duragloss 601 followed by 105 and AW. Lasts very long , shine is incredible.
Click to expand...
Since the car is white, would the Duragloss 501 be of any value? Is the 501 an "all in one" or does it need 601 before the 501?
 
Well, today I finally got around to trying a test patch of 601 followed by 501.



1. The car was washed.

2. Tried Autoglym tar/sap remover on bad horizonal areas -- hardly makes a dent in the sap spots (sycamore sap, most likely)

3. Clar bar gets most of the sap dots off the test patch (this is going to be really slow going....)

4. Applied 601 PBA

5. Applied 501 polish. The 501 dissolved some, although not quite all, of the remaining sap dots.

6. Sure looks nice this evening, especially in comparison to the sappy areas.



Now we'll see how well it stand up to sap assault.
 
It sounds like you want a short cut answer and don't want to put in any effort. If you are really as lazy as you make your self sound maybe the solution is apply a decent selant and buy an unlimited car wash pass at a drive through car wash. But this website is for people who take pride in their cars and enjoy it, not try to rush the process.
 
Bit of a nasty response there from our friend beachcities. How did that help?



I've had a few run-ins with tree sap and it's very difficult, as others here have noted. I haven't run across any product that can be relied upon to resist sap for very long. If she can't park away from the trees, perhaps you could rig up a Visqueen-type of covering that she would be able to unroll onto and off of the car. That's what I would try. Grommets with hooks could be inserted into a folded over portion of the Visqueen I would think, recalling my Boy Scout days.
 
I think you are looking for the holy grail of sealants/waxes. It hasn't been found yet. There were reports of a sighting in mountains of Tibet, but unfortunately that was unfounded ;)



Personally I would slap a carnuabu on there. Lots of it. Try Collinite 476 if you like.
 
beachcities said:
It sounds like you want a short cut answer and don't want to put in any effort. If you are really as lazy as you make your self sound maybe the solution is apply a decent selant and buy an unlimited car wash pass at a drive through car wash. But this website is for people who take pride in their cars and enjoy it, not try to rush the process.
Click to expand...
See posts #1 and 3. I only rarely get a chance to work on this car during daylight hours. My BMW MZ3 gets babied, not this Volvo.



I'm giving the Duragloss 501 on top of 601 a chance to prove its level of protection.
 
I find that plain ol gasoline removes tree sap and tar better than anything. Be sure to rewax the area after going over it with a rag with a little bit of gas and in a couple of quick swipes it'll be gone. Water based cleaners just won't cut it if you're in a rush, you can also use lighter fluid or kerosesne.
 
The car has a mix of body colored and black plastics on it, so a very strong solvent like gasoline might create problems.



The Duragloss 501 did pretty well at this (at least with sycamore sap), and because of its intended marine usage, it is fiberglass and plastic safe.
 
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