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Items You’ll need:

• Several clean clothes

• wax application pad

• Quart of denatured alcohol

• Meguiars #2 Fine-Cut Cleaner (or equivalent)

• Meguiars #7 Show Car Glaze (or equivalent)

• Meguiars #26 High Tech Carnauba Wax (or equivalent)

• About 3 hours of a warm Spring afternoon

As spring sets upon our side of the earth, we find the birds are chirping, the butterflies are fluttering, the flowers are blooming, and the pollen and sap from the trees are falling… directly on our cars!

If you’ve ever run your hand over the top of your car, chances are it will have a slight sandpaper texture. This is all the pollen and sap particles from various trees that have found a nice little home on the paint of your vehicle.

You can wash, scrub, and wax all you want, but it is going to be next to impossible to get that showroom shine back without a miracle.

While there are sap removing products on the shelves today, there is really only one way to clean a car that has some serious sap damage according to a lot of car detailers… denatured alcohol.

Denatured alcohol can be found at just about any hardware store and while its use will also strip your car of all its waxes, it is just about the only way to clean off heavily baked on sap without wearing out your elbow in the process.

Even if you have quarter inch sized pine tree sap droplets that have been baking on your hood for 3 years, denatured alcohol will do the job. Just about anything that has found its way onto your paint can be removed with this powerful solvent.

The nice thing about it, is why it is a relatively strong solvent, it is actually not as harsh on your paint as you might think since alcohol evaporates quickly into the air.

Once this portion of the job is done, you are going to need to renew the shine on your finish and protect it so that the next batch of sap will not be able to get such a hold on your painted surface. This process begins by cleaning off the light film of contaminants leftover from the solvent cleaning with the Meguiars #2 Fine-Cut Cleaner.

This simple needs to be rubbed in until the fine grit breaks down into the paint and then wiped off. There is no need to let this dry before wiping off. You will only need to use this on the portions of the paint you had to use the denatured alcohol.

The next step will be to renew the oils in the paint that the solvent may have dried out. This is accomplished by Meguiars #7 Show Glaze. You may want to use this on the entire vehicle if the paint appears dull and hazy in anyway.

The best part of the Meguiars #7 is there really is no need for a buffer to get a nice shine. The rich oils work themselves into the paint with just a little elbow grease and really bring out a deep shine. Of course if you have a buffer handy, this could give you an even better shine, but it is not a necessary tool for this project.

Once all the paint is smooth and shiny you are going to want to but a fresh coat of wax on the surface to hold in the oils you just renewed the paint with as well as protect the surface. While a lot of high tech waxes and sealants have become quite popular over the past 15 years, there is nothing like the shine and protection of good old fashioned carnauba paste.

A tip to keep in mind when it comes to carnauba wax, is much of the time the paste will hold up longer than the liquid versions. It can be a bit more difficult to rub on and off, but when you count in its longevity and ultimate protection it will be worth it.

Most carnauba pastes will come with an applicator pad that will need to be dampened thoroughly before it can be used. Make sure that the vehicle is in a shaded spot for this part of the process and the paint is cool to the touch.

If you try to apply paste wax on a hot surface it will dry too quickly and you will not be able to get the wax into the pores of the paint. Rub the wax in thoroughly and allow to dry completely before using a clean and dry cloth to wipe it off.

This may sound like a lot of steps, but the key is to let the products do most of the work. You really don’t need to spend all that much time on each step. Three hours of hard work should have your cars paint ready for those summer Saturday nights at the drive-in.