Need suggestions on removing these spots (tar or tree sap)

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eyost

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Hi all,

My wife's car has tons of these spots all over her car. We have a feeling that it may be tree sap or tar. It is raised and I can remove it with my fingernail but after doing so it leaves a spot. I have tried Pinnacle deep swirl remover with an orange pad but it takes a lot of work to get the spots to be removed. Didn't hurt much as there were some swirls.

On a whim I tried some of the Wolfgang pad cleaner on a cloth and that actually seemed to work pretty well with some rubbing. Even some rubbing alcohol worked as well. Given the amount of spots that need to be removed, I would like to be able to run something on a machine if possible.

I've attached a picture; hopefully I have done that correctly.

Thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks,

Ed
 
Very interesting that they are black spots. Your sure that its tree sap? Are they sticky when you touch and push on them?

Anyways I can tell your that Automotive Go-Gone has worked outstanding for me with my normal products (Poorboys Bug Squash, APC+ etc) don't remove something.

From my experiance, if its sap, clay will just get laughed at by the sap.
 
What you have there is artillary fungus. It's in the mulch somewhere near where she parks at home or work. It grows in standard shredded mulch. You will notice that it has a rock hard cap that protects it. Once the cap is scrapped off it can be cleaned with claying most likely. My parents had it all over their house and on their cars. They had to have all their mulch removed and now only use wood chips. Try a plastic razor blade on each spot to remove the harder cap then clay the spot clean. That is of course if claying alone does not remove it.

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Da Fats said:
What you have there is artillary fungus. It's in the mulch somewhere near where she parks at home or work. It grows in standard shredded mulch. You will notice that it has a rock hard cap that protects it. Once the cap is scrapped off it can be cleaned with claying most likely. My parents had it all over their house and on their cars. They had to have all their mulch removed and now only use wood chips. Try a plastic razor blade on each spot to remove the harder cap then clay the spot clean. That is of course if claying alone does not remove it.

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Click to expand...

Well, that is interesting. When I clay the car, the top does pop off but then when I continue to clay with a fresh piece of clay it doesn't budge. It seems like I need some type of solvent to break it down. I will try popping the cap off on some other areas and claying it again. Once the cap is off I can barely feel the spot even with a baggie. It does look like the car got sprayed with this junk; speckled all over although larger amount on the hood and one side of the car.
 
Did you try polishing to remove the ring? It's Being Shot at the car from the mulch. It aims for light colors and sun reflections

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You live in the South? Here in Ga I see those quite often. They come off of a certain tree I believe. The top comes off easy but you have to use a solvent and plastic razor blade/finger nail to remove the rest.
 
usually a light polish will remove them

but the only problem they will be back again and again

it happens with me all the time

i try to wash them off as much as possible without stripping the wax

and clay will remove them but with a little bit of time
 
I surprised that no one has mentioned that these could be spider droppings?!?!? Do you park in an area with quite a few spiders over head? I see this ALOT on boats, RVS, buses, work vehicles at these locations, etc -
 
Baking soda and water will remove artillery fungus. My wife works for a landscaper and that's what they use
 
Have you tried mineral spirits? Let it soak for 30 secs and then wipe off. You will need to reapply wax but since you are using clay that will have to be done anyway.
 
B&B Tennessee said:
I surprised that no one has mentioned that these could be spider droppings?!?!? Do you park in an area with quite a few spiders over head? I see this ALOT on boats, RVS, buses, work vehicles at these locations, etc -
Click to expand...

It's artillary fungus. Google it and you will see.

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Da Fats said:
It's artillary fungus. Google it and you will see.

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Click to expand...

Very funny cause if you google spider droppings, both have the exact same picture as number 1 or 2 lol.... so they look very similar :dblthumb2:
 
Turboclam said:
You live in the South? Here in Ga I see those quite often. They come off of a certain tree I believe. The top comes off easy but you have to use a solvent and plastic razor blade/finger nail to remove the rest.
Click to expand...

Yep, live in North Carolina. Looks like I am getting a lot of great suggestions. I will start trying some and let everyone know what works well. Polishing doesn't seem to get it clean. I progressed to a swirl remover and heavier pad and that didn't get it done. Looks like I may need something that isn't an 'automotive' product.
 
Gang,

Went out in the garage and on these spots. Used the clay to work and work and work on the spots; eventually it would come off. Those that mentioned clay were right, although it's no quick fix. Figure I'll do a little every night. Tomorrow I'll give the baking soda and Mineral Spirits a try and let you know how that works out. One thing I found with using the clay is that it seems to work better if I work on one spot then go to another then come back to the spot that I started working on. Might be the clay lube takes a while to soften up the spot and when you come back to it the removal goes faster.

You should have seen me try to rub out a nick in the paint that I thought was a spot; darn thing never came out.:)

I glanced over at my DA and thought why can't you help me - so much for a quick fix.

Ed
 
Da Fats said:
It's artillary fungus. Google it and you will see.

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Click to expand...

B&B Tennessee said:
Very funny cause if you google spider droppings, both have the exact same picture as number 1 or 2 lol.... so they look very similar :dblthumb2:
Click to expand...


Just curious - have you ever come across spider droppings? OR - did you conclude that it MUST be artillery fungus through pics? I have dealt with both over the years (from the south my friend) and BOTH are tough to get rid of. You just seemed so confident in the fact that they were artillery fungus without actually feeling or touching the surface of the clear mentioned. I am speculating that it is one or the other but would not shoot down another AGian if they had a hypothesis that is similarly close to that of yours or my conclusion. So why so confident?
 
The spots appear on what appears to be the side of the vehicle... The light color of the vehicle and location is a pretty good indictor to me. Either way clay is working for the guy so problem solved.

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