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What's the best way to get bugs off of car?

MBrown

MBrown

Diamond Member
I just got back from a road trip to Peoria, IL and the front of my car is loaded with bugs. What is the best way to get them off?
 
The best way is to take a towel that is soaked with hot water and let is sit on the bugs for 10-15 minutes before washing.

If you're really OCD you'll do like me and wash the bugs off, then use that water to wash wheels, then dump out bucket and fill again with clean water for the rest of the paint.
 
Try using a used dryer sheet. Dip it in warm soapy water and wash gently. The dryer sheet is just abrasive enough to remove the bug guts. May want follow up with some wax.

c3p0
 
If you use Bug & Tar remover, keep it away from plastics - e.g. grille, headlight, signals. It could kill the glossy finish for good.
 
Here is a pro-tip. Drive through a rain storm....best bug remover available.

Actually in the field, we spray on all purpose cleaner, let it sit 5 minutes, brush, then into the automated car wash. This is the commercial way, no time to mess with clay bars or dryer sheets.
 
manuever around the bugs when driving. This avoids them in the first place!

Seriously - warm water with car soap does wonders. Let the bug area soak for a few minutes and they should come off pretty easily. They can really get baked-in if it is hot.
 
caspur said:
Here is a pro-tip. Drive through a rain storm....best bug remover available.

Actually in the field, we spray on all purpose cleaner, let it sit 5 minutes, brush, then into the automated car wash. This is the commercial way, no time to mess with clay bars or dryer sheets.
Click to expand...

might be fine if you're driving a crap commercial van or car you don't care about, but that's the ghetto way. claybar and instant detailer is the right way to do it.

and if that's how you treat your cars,i'll bet that other dude's 88 camry that you ripped on in this thread for being as old as you are is probably in better shape than anything you drive http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2108735&highlight=
 
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evident said:
might be fine if you're driving a crap commercial van or car you don't care about, but that's the ghetto way. claybar and instant detailer is the right way to do it.

and if that's how you treat your cars than i'll be that other dude's 88 camry that you ripped on in this thread for being as old as you are is probably in better shape than anything you drive http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2108735&highlight=
Click to expand...

While caspur seems to have more mouth than common sense (re the linked comments about someone else's ride), you're not doing much better telling other people what "right" is.

I have a new truck, work 14 hours a day, and live in the country on a dirt road. Fuck me if I'm going to spend an hour a day washing, waxing, and cleaning the bugs off that truck. I have better things to do. Your "right" may not be his "right".

The best way I've found to remove the crap from the bumpers/chrome when I really had to was a paper towel soaked in water left on the area for 10-15 minutes. A clean sponge with a little pressure applied after that will get off whatever you missed with the paper towel.
 
I've found orange degreaser works pretty well. It's caustic though. Make sure it doesn't dry, and DON'T get it on the windows.

Warm water and soap does work very well. Oh, it will get them off, eventually. Just be prepared to scrub the crap out of it. I clean cars for a living at a rental company. Out of my very limited supplies, the degreaser is the only thing I've found that works. Foam based glass cleaner and a soft cloth also does it for smaller patches.
 
mmntech said:
I've found orange degreaser works pretty well. It's caustic though. Make sure it doesn't dry, and DON'T get it on the windows.

Warm water and soap does work very well. Oh, it will get them off, eventually. Just be prepared to scrub the crap out of it. I clean cars for a living at a rental company. Out of my very limited supplies, the degreaser is the only thing I've found that works. Foam based glass cleaner and a soft cloth also does it for smaller patches.
Click to expand...

Have you ever used Kerosene to remove stuff? It will honestly remove everything from bugs, to year old tar spots near the wheel wells... i do caution though, if you DONT wax after, that paint will get in trouble later because it will remove the wax, and almost everything else, but the paint.
 
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