I?m sure this will have been covered before, so apologies for any previous.
Having travelled on a long hot trip about a week ago when it was hot, I?m still left with some of the baked-on remains of bugs. ( even after lots of rain. ) It?s a black car so they seem to show.
I?ve tried hot water & sponge, and non-abrasive kitchen cleaners, but there always seems to be some left on.
I?m trying not to scratch the surface of course, so I?m being careful.
Any products or techniques that have proved effective, without scratching?
( I?m not going for an old pan scourer on the new motor ! )
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You're right to be careful.
I rubbed a squashed bug with my finger tip while washing my old Focus.
The resulting scrub mark was still on the paintwork when I sold the car six years later.
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I use one of those sponges with kind of netting on, rubbing very gently. I think they are designed to get bugs off glass but with a bit of patience they work on paint too.
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Hose car down, place a towel on the bit your working on, thoroughly soak the towel with water, wait 30 mins, bugs should now easily wipe off! Wash & wax car to make the kob easier next time.
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believe it or not, baby wipes work great !
I am not joking.
If the offending bugs don't come off straight away, wipe over the same section in a few minutes time and the bug should come off quite easily.
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Read on another (detailing) forum that rubbing some turps onto the area with a microfibre cloth, should do the trick. Don't leave the turps on too long - wash off.
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Some car shampoos don't seem to make much impression on them. Autoglym isn't bad. Fenwicks caravan cleaner is better, I now use it for washing the car. For really baked/smashed ones, you can use a bit neat on a cloth.>> I?m sure this will have been covered before so apologies for any previous.
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I wait 'til winter. Falling snow seems to work quite well. ;>)
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The microfibre type wash mitt with a mesh side seems to work quite well. Also, after washing the car I've found that really stubborn ones will come off using this method-put a little polish -not abrasive sort, something like wax it wet /gloss guard- on the area and then use an old credit card to carefully and gently scrape it off. Please try on a not very visible area first. Good luck.
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Anyone tried vineger? Seems to work on everything else!
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Whatever you use to get them off, once they're off, polish and wax or better glaze the front end 5 times wih a quality product (I use Jeffs Werkstatt Acrylic but anything decent will do) and the little (deceased) blighters will wash off incredibly easily. Reapply the glaze every 4 to 6 weeks (5 minute job) and you'll not have to resort to paint damaging scourers and brushes.
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My favourite for getting dried bugs off a helmet visor is to drape a wetted sheet of kitchen paper towel over it an leave for a few hours.
With the visor I try my best not to rub it with anything to avoid scratches which are a right pain.
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I use Chrome's and martint123's method.
Whether you use a soaked towel, cloth or kitchen towel the effect is the same.
Works well with stubborn bird poo also.
Edited by Marc on 08/06/2009 at 22:47
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Exactly as Martin says - old biker method that works very well on visors!
HTH
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I find a car wash does a pretty good at removing most things, anything remaining comes off with Windowlene window cleaner and Bounty kitchen roll.
Edited by MikeTorque on 08/06/2009 at 23:57
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I don't use car washes anyway, but I'd never use one on a black car unless it had a lacquer coat. Black paint is usually soft, scratches easily and shows every imperfection.
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Fair point, more so with new paint, one reason I'd never have a black car.
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Cover in truckwash or traffic film remover. Leave for two minutes. Jetwash.
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Exactly as Martin says - old biker method that works very well on visors! HTH
and a good dollop of smokers toothpaste and a stiff brush works well on the gnashers too im told
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I actually found that bug remover from Lidl worked quite well - spray on, cover with a damp cloth for 5 minutes and everything just hosed off. Quick run over with Meguiars Wax to top things up and job done!
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We have a self-propelled, self-motivated bug remover in the form of a 1 year old border collie. Sit him by the front of the car while I put the dog walking kit on and away he goes.
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Does he eat and roll in horse poo, dead hedgehogs, dead birds, bird poo............etc?
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He's done the horse poo(eats) and the same with cow poo(as long as it's the right consistency, not too hard or soft) Rabbit droppings are a sort of malteser to him. The only rolling he's done is in badger and fox poo, so far---
He doesn't like travelling in the car much, so any tips on improving that would be appreciated.
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Border collies are normally very obedient and easy to train. I suggest you tell him to SIT in the pasenger footwell (and make him do it). He'll probably get used to curling up down there with an occasional foray to sniff the face level vents when some interesting news wafts by.
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Blob of Autoglym Super Resin polish, soak in for a minute and polish off. Good layer of same polish all over front paintwork will mean they don't stick. Use Autoglym Fast Glass if bug is on the windscreen or headlamps.
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