How to get sap, jacaranda flowers and bat droppings off your car

Get it off soon, get it wet first, and don’t scrub. That’s most of it. Sap, droppings and squashed flowers do the damage when they sit on hot paint for days. Softened and lifted off within a day or two, they usually leave nothing behind.

I’m in North Turramurra, surrounded by gum trees, so I see a lot of this.

Why it’s worse on the North Shore

Plenty of streets up here are basically bush with houses in it. Gums drop leaves, bark and gumnuts all year. Jacarandas cover everything in purple from mid October into November, and McDougall Street in Kirribilli is so well known for them that people come just for photos.

Then there are the flying-foxes. There’s been a grey-headed flying-fox camp in the Ku-ring-gai Flying-fox Reserve in Gordon since the 1960s. They fly out every evening to feed, and a car parked under a flowering or fruiting tree cops it.

That sticky film isn’t always sap

If the car’s covered in tiny sticky spots after a night under a tree, it’s often honeydew, not sap. That’s the sugary stuff insects like aphids and scale drop while they feed. It goes tacky, holds onto dust and turns grubby fast. Real sap comes in bigger drops and sets hard.

Good news is honeydew comes off pretty easily with warm water and car shampoo, as long as you get to it before it bakes on.

How do you get it off safely?

Bird and bat droppings

1. Soak it. Lay a wet microfibre towel over it for a few minutes, or spray it with quick detailer.
2. Lift it off with the towel. Pinch and lift, don’t wipe it across the paint.
3. Rinse and have a look. A dull patch left behind means it’s etched the clear coat.

Please don’t go at it with a dry tissue at the servo. Droppings are gritty and you’ll drag that grit straight across the paint.

Tree sap

Fresh sap usually comes off with warm soapy water and some patience. Hardened sap needs a sap or tar remover made for car paint. Put it on, give it time to soften, then lift it. Don’t pick at it with a fingernail or scrape it. If it still won’t budge, leave it for a detailer instead of forcing it.

Jacaranda flowers and wet leaves

Dry flowers mostly blow off. It’s the wet ones that cause trouble, along with leaves after rain, stuck flat to the bonnet or roof and cooking in the sun for a few days. They can leave marks. Rinse them off instead of brushing them, and clear out the gap under the wipers where they pile up and hold water.

What if it’s left a mark?

If there’s still a dull or rough patch after a proper clean, the clear coat’s been etched. Light etching can often be polished out. Deeper marks can usually be made a lot less obvious, but not always removed completely. I’ll tell you honestly which one you’ve got before I start. A typical summer one: a white car parked under a fig in Gordon while the owners were away for a week, covered in flying-fox droppings. Most of it lifted off after a good soak. Two spots on the bonnet had etched and needed a polish. That’s paint correction, which I can do at your place or in-house in North Turramurra. I’ve explained how it differs from a coating in ceramic coating vs paint correction, and the options are on the services page.

How do you stop it happening again?

• Park away from the worst trees in jacaranda season if you’ve got the choice.
• Keep a bottle of quick detailer and a clean microfibre in the boot.
• Wash every week or two over summer. My home car wash guide covers doing it without scratching.
• Get some protection on the paint. A ceramic coating makes droppings and sap much easier to get off and buys you time before they etch. It won’t make the paint bulletproof, but it helps a lot. Sap and droppings are also a big part of how long a coating lasts here.

Help on the Upper and Lower North Shore

If your car’s copping it and you’d rather hand it over, I come to you for exterior and full details. Up around home that’s Turramurra, Wahroonga, Pymble, Gordon, St Ives, Killara and Lindfield, where it’s mostly gums and flying-foxes. On the lower North Shore it’s jacarandas and salty air in Kirribilli, Neutral Bay, Cremorne and Mosman. The full list of suburbs I come to is in mobile detailing vs drop-off.

Polishing and coatings can be done at your place or in-house in North Turramurra. I recommend in-house.

Got a mark you’re worried about?

Send me a photo of it in daylight with the car and your suburb. Request a quote and I’ll text you back to confirm the right service and a time. There’s no payment to enquire. Rather talk? Call 0491 754 707.

Jake
STIKKYS Detailing, North Turramurra

I grew up on the North Shore, taught myself on my own cars and started STIKKYS in 2025. I work 7 days, 9am to 5pm. More about me.

Cover photo: Magda Ehlers / Pexels. Car photos are my own work.