With summer upon us, does anyone know of any quick & easy ways to remove squashed insects from the front of cars. Mine was covered in them after a long trip on Saturday & it took ages and lots of elbow grease to remove all of the traces,
Thanks for any advice
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There used to be a Holts aerosol specifically for the removal of suicidal insects. I don't know if it is still made but Halfords would probably have it or something suitable.
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I wash the affected area and then apply a good quality polish such as Mer to remove the remains.
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I have a sponge within plastic mesh. It is designed for cleaning insects off windscreens but works equally well on paintwork. I'm careful not to overdo it, and give the area a thorough soaking first to soften up the carcases and blood.
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Apply a couple of sheets of clingfilm to the affect area before setting off on a long journey? :)
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Meguiars Quick Detailing spray and a good terry towel do the trick for me, but I don't put a lot of effort into it, the car's still well polished so they come off fairly easily...
Blue
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Any sponge with a plastic mesh can put very fine scratches on a windscreen unless the lightest pressure is used, in which case the flies may not come off. I speak from bitter experience having spoiled the windscreen of a Citroen SM doing just that to get bugs off!
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The method I use to get bugs of my crash helmet visor is to put a wet paper kitchen towel over it for an hour or two. Peel off and the bugs come with it. Works on well dried bugs on the front of my car as well.
Martin
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I use Holts Bug Shifter. 500ml bottle.
1 part to 4 in the washer bottle.
I have also made up a solution in a spray bottle for bodywork.
It seems to work quite well.
I have now obtained 151 Dream Machine Bug Shifter.
www.151.co.uk - a Manchester company.
Its a 300ml Aerosol. Spray on and 30 secs later rub off.
Aimed at the bikers market so I guess thats where to look for it. I would expect bikers shops to stock other products as it is critical to remove bugs of visors.
I have not yet tried it as I have not been up to speed in the countryside to collect samples to try it on.
Happy bug shifting
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In the bug season we get 'em baked on and done to a turn at 100+ temps. And I'm talking big tropical mothers. Turtle Wax Bug and Tar and Tree Sap Remover shifts 'em.
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In my "white van man" days I used to put bleach in the water when washing the van.
Of course I had no worries about damaging the paint ( company van ). But it did a fantastic job of shifting them with very little elbow grease involved.
There was no noticable damage to the paint, but that may have been because it was flat white ?!?
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Get the bumper clean and assuming it's colour coded.
Apply Autoglym wax and super gloss stuff (can't remember name).
Then after multiple bug strikes and some considerable time on the bumper, they more or less wipe off with a little presoaking. Wiped off the last lot with a damp rag.
Then re-apply wax and gloss once clean.
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I find neat screenwash and a cloth is great for getting them off the windscreen. Don\'t normally worry about the paintwork, but Autoglym Super Resin Polish has shifted them on the one or two occasions I have bothered.
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Get at them as soon as you can and do not leave for long. I have used the green foam Holt's product and found it quite good although regrettably a fair bit of elbow grease always needs to be used. Soak and leave for a while is another useful motto!
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Thanks for all your suggestions. I will follow some of them up,
Cheers,
Fitz
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Just use a more powerful screenwash - I use something called cleen green, which shifts muck off everything! As soon as there's a splat, on go the wipers, and the remains are away.
Also, because bug strikes normally occur at speed, the residual screenwash is blown away in the slipstream, so no damge to paint.
Stevie's smiley clingfilm idea isn't such a joke - I know many locals invest in 'car bras' which they use on long distance drives.
Another joy of the local bug's is that, like Growler's, they come in "king size"... it's amazing that after just a few days, the accumulated splats can cover an entire number plate - which always gets overlooked during the cleaning process. I can't imagine why ...
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