Remove pine sap from composite deck
 

What is the safest method to remove pine sap from a composite deck? The deck is only 3 years old. I don't want to damage the finish if I use something like a mineral spirits. This never happened before.

There is no ''safe'' method because all the composites are slightly different in there exterior coating.

The suggested method tend to be used soap and water at first.
Then become more aggressive with other stick residue removers, checking in an inconspicuous spot at first (I just thought about this... and dealers have samples of the product that you could try the cleaner on first before moving to an inconspicuous spot on the actual deck).

Try a stiff brush with Dawn dish soap and water, if that doesn’t do it, try isopropyl alcohol in an inconspicuous area first to make sure it doesn’t stain or damage…

Dan

Tried dish washing liquid with a stiff brush. There are still white residue marks.

Rub a little butter on it..works great

I agree with John’s suggested cautious approach. That said, I went straight for the denaturalized alcohol on our composite furniture. Been doing that extensively for three years with no problems. Color of our furniture is very light so I’d be more careful with darker colors.

I think it is important to use Dawn, not just any dish washing brand. Dawn is also recommended for paint brushes and removing skunk oil from your dog.

We're closing soon. Mother Nature will do a lot of cleaning over the winter.

Just cleaned the sap off my boat cover, tried hand sanitizer first but that didn't do it. Then I used pure alcohol, and it worked great.
But you can still see a spot where the sap was.