Ants!

[AutoCadillac]

There are ants all over my car. But, not a one to be found on my wife's car that is parked next to it (both outdoors).



I use the same products on both cars except I use NXT on hers and Liquid Glass on mine. The only other difference is her car is dark blue and mine is silver metallic.



Every morning I go out to my car and ants are all over it. But, none on hers. I go to work and when I leave in the evening, all the ants are off my car. But by the next morning, they are back.



Do you think the ants are attracted to the Liquid Glass or do you think it is a color thing.

 

[Flatfour]

Try making a circle on the ground around your car with vinegar !

No kidding, try it and be amazed...

Ants absolutely HATE the smell of vinegar, it's enviromental friendly, costs about nothing and after a few days, ants will avoid your car and the surrounding aera like the plague...

 

[victory]

I noticed something too. I find an inordinate amount of small flying insects dead on my car. Didn't start happening untill i detailed the car and got it looking really good. Then, dead gnats evrywhere. Car is also silver.



I can only assume it's something about the sun reflecting off the now highly-polished silver metallic color that causes the bugs to be attracted to the car.

 

[RX-7Fan]

I hope you're not using the same tire detail as these people !!!!

 

[imported_Surfer]

Funny, I noticed something similar the other day. Gave a quick wipedown after the rain, some Poorboy's QW+, and after a few minutes I notice my suv is literaly covered on gnats, whereas our others cars/trucks in the driveway weren't???? Never had that happen before till now :nixweiss

 

[fuzzydd]

maybe the smell from the products

i was detailing a silver car last week and every bug in the vicinity kept flying onto the finish (and my bucket) and drowning in soap bubbles



i winded up pulling it into my garage and closing the door to finish -_-

 

[Rojas209]

I noticed something too. I find an inordinate amount of small flying insects dead on my car.

Same thing happens on my car i just think they die after staring at it for so long going thats a nice detail. :chuckle:



When i clean it with E1 that smells like candy mosquitos and bugs get all over it

 

[Mr_Elusive]

Same thing happens on my car i just think they die after staring at it for so long going thats a nice detail. :chuckle:



When i clean it with E1 that smells like candy mosquitos and bugs get all over it

WOW that happened to me last week also, I did a quick buff with Klasse, VM, and Souveran. Came out the next morning... dead flies/mosquitos all over the car. I've never seen it before until now.

 

[Ed Fisher]

I hope you're not using the same tire detail as these people !!!!

Well not a single ant is around my cars. (Although I did not repeat the stuff after that guy applied it on.)



Those winged ants are newly turned breeding queens flying around to find a place to start a new colony. If they cannot find a place, they die within a day or two. If you have them live and with the company o other ants, then you are in for a new problem bigger than splatters on your car. They are there to build a colony and you are facing a problem of some 100 million ants... Good luck and God speed !! Hope they are not fire ants...



Vinegar and powdered coffee (the one you use for espresso or Turkish coffee.) drive them away. Coffee is expensive and vinegar is an easier solution to pour around, easier than sprinkling coffee powder in the wind.



If you can locate their colony nest, try pouring a bit of diesel fuel or kerosene into its opening. (Do not set it on fire, never. That' ll cause them to evacuate and find the nearest cool place which is likely to be your basement or coal bin...



Eh, I live in the suburb of Istanbul, a 14 million megapol and we have enough of our share of ants, bugs, even scorpions.(Because it is a hot climate; it is 37 degrees Celsius right now at 19:30 hours if that counts...) But not a single ant is around any of my cars... :chuckle:

 

[victory]

Same thing happens on my car i just think they die after staring at it for so long going thats a nice detail. :chuckle:

I assumed it was something like that. Sun reflects off car, bugs swarm around car, some of them die and end up on your hood trunk and roof. I guess i'll start worrying about the toxicity of my products when this starts happening with birds, young children and the elderly.



Autopian morality question: There's an unresponsive child on your hood. When you pop the trunk, do you reach for the med kit or quick detailer?

 

[mblgjr]

I've had ants IN and ON may car before. It was when it was raining a lot here and wansn't ever drying out. I guess the ants decided my car and garage was warm and dry for the time. I wound up putting ant bait all around and in my car, as well as using compressed air to blow them out of the cracks.



I'm not 100% sure, but at the time I was using NXT liquid fairly frequently on the car, but I'm now using Pinnacle, which has natural oils/smells and they're not attacking it so I doubt that is an issue.



Good luck.

 

[AutoCadillac]

UPDATE to my original post:



Sunday morning, I used NXT liquid on my car instead of Liquid Glass. Monday morning, I noticed a few but very few ants on my car, and none since then.



I guess my favoriate old school's current formulation is an ant magnet.



Maybe in a month or two, I'll use the Liquid Glass on my wife's car and see if it starts attracting ants.