Removing Very Dried On Bugs Off Your Car

[ihaveacamaro]

Well, I hope if you guys are regular visitors to this subforum, you never let your car get this bad in terms of bugs.

But if you do let your car get splattered with bugs and not care for months at a time, this is how I would deal with it:

http://youtu.be/_K7sxZy4C4M

The key thing is preventative maintenance to make sure that you are never in this situation!!

[Jeffm]

I use Waterless Wash and let it dwell and then spray it off then wash the car.

[omegaman]

I highly recommend Fastwax. While on a mini road trip, I went to gas up my Camaro and there were a couple of guys selling this stuff outside the gas station. They did a demo on my car which was covered with dead baked-on insects. ALL the bug stuff came off with the product - I was amazed. I bought two cans of the stuff and will buy more when I run out.

Video here.

[ihaveacamaro]

Originally Posted by Jeffm

I use Waterless Wash and let it dwell and then spray it off then wash the car.

Originally Posted by omegaman

I highly recommend Fastwax. While on a mini road trip, I went to gas up my Camaro and there were a couple of guys selling this stuff outside the gas station. They did a demo on my car which was covered with dead baked-on insects. ALL the bug stuff came off with the product - I was amazed. I bought two cans of the stuff and will buy more when I run out.

Video here.

Guys if you watch the video, you will see that those bugs were baked on. I can guarantee neither of those types of products would have touched the bugs at all. There is simply nothing you can do that will be spray and wipe off after a certain point of time.

If the bugs are a day old or even up to a week old, that might work. But two months, no that wouldn't of done anything.

You can choose to believe me or not of course, but if whatever you are using works for you and you are happy, stick with it.

[ec1990]

Originally Posted by ihaveacamaro

Guys if you watch the video, you will see that those bugs were backed on. I can guarantee neither of those types of products would have touched the bugs at all. There is simply nothing you can do that will be spray and wipe off after a certain point of time.

If the bugs are a day old or even up to a week old, that might work. But two months, no that wouldn't of done anything.

You can choose to believe me or not of course, but if whatever you are using for you works for you and you are happy stick with it.

I agree, especially Lovebugs which are a whole new level of hell. Do you prefer using diluted APC for this use since it's easy and pretty cost effective or a dedicated bug cleaner? I like Duragloss' bug remover but just wanted to see your thoughts on using APC as a very multi-use product.

[ihaveacamaro]

Originally Posted by ec1990

I agree, especially Lovebugs which are a whole new level of hell. Do you prefer using diluted APC for this use since it's easy and pretty cost effective or a dedicated bug cleaner? I like Duragloss' bug remover but just wanted to see your thoughts on using APC as a very multi-use product.

I use APC as noted in the video.

There is a user on autopia forums that is I believe if I remember correctly a Molecular Chemist.

He explains the situation much better than I can:

Originally Posted by PiPUK

Specialist bug removers are really just a money spinner, I am afraid. There are two types of product sold this way:

Solvent based product- typically these are sold as bug and tar removers. They are not water dilutable. They will be very effective with bugs and much much better on tar than option 2. Unfortunately, because they cannot be diluted and are necessarily 100% active products, they are really quite expensive.

Water based product - These will be water dilutable and will be much much less than 100% active so are much cheaper than solvent products. Against bugs they can still be very effective but against tar they will be of limited use and often totally useless.

The water based products are often very similar to APCs, there is very little special about them. Likewise, very similar to prewash products. In some cases, bug removers are actually 'ready for use' versions of APCs - they are diluted yet strangely cost more than many of the concentrated APCs out there!

[ec1990]

Ah okay thanks!

Where have you found is the best place to pick up spray bottles? It seems you already have them pre-diluted, or ready for a specific product (like APC) to be diluted.

[ihaveacamaro]

For the most part I use the $3 ones you can get at walmart. They are not bad at all for the money.

I have a few Kwazar ones too which are amazing, but with a more specific purpose. Those are seriously expensive but they spray both when you pull the trigger as well as release. This is great when using tire cleaner, wheel cleaner, detail spray, waterless wash, and clay lube as it effectively cuts the amount of times you have to pull the trigger in half.

The kwazar ones can be bought for much cheaper (almost half off) at some online pet store. Just look up double spray trigger or something like that.

Lastly, I have a few Adam's spray bottles. These are very good, but ridiculously pricey. I prefer these when I want to use something but not waste as much product as using a Kwazar bottle.

[ec1990]

I have a Kwazar, yeah it's amazing I use it for claying. But at $14 a pop it's not worth it from Amazon. I'll probably go pick up some Rubbermaid in the future from Walmart.

[ihaveacamaro]

Originally Posted by ec1990

I have a Kwazar, yeah it's amazing I use it for claying. But at $14 a pop it's not worth it from Amazon. I'll probably go pick up some Rubbermaid in the future from Walmart.

like I said, it's like $6 a pop on that pet store.

[ec1990]

Cool, thanks.

[otter]

Great timing for this video. This weekend I am going to work on my daughter's beater SUV. She goes camping a lot and the bugs are really dried on.

I was going to go to the "do it yourself" wash and use soap foam and the high pressure wash. Might use the brush too since it's a beater SUV.

[axis]

CG has some heavy duty 32oz sprayers that have adjustable spray tip (fine mist to stream) and have the dilution markings on the side for easy mixing in the bottle. They're 4.99 for one and go down as you buy more. 12 for $2/each is the lowest. Just another option for ya.

[otter]

Originally Posted by ec1990

Ah okay thanks!

Where have you found is the best place to pick up spray bottles? It seems you already have them pre-diluted, or ready for a specific product (like APC) to be diluted.

I use spray bottles from the dollar store. They are sturdy and they have measure marks etched into them.

For detail spray or clay lube, I use a pump, garden sprayer from OSH, I think it was $6.00.