Suggestions for Bug Removal Porducts, Pads, and Methodologies

L

Lonnie

Active member
Since this is the beginning of the bug season in the upper Midwest, I am looking for suggestions of car-care products, pads, and methodologies to safely and effectively removing bug splatter from the front bumpers, grills, and windshields of vehicles.

For myself, I just use a good car soap, like Meg's Professional No. 62 or Optimum's Car Wash Soap and a dedicated mesh-type bug pad; but then I do not let bug splatter sit on my vehicle for any length of time, even if I have to wash just the front end and windshield (more out necessity for visibility). I am reluctant to use Stoner's Tarminator on front plastic grills after having a bad experience of discoloring/lighting the black plastic of a friend's badly bug-covered car.

For those of you who detail for a living, it must be pain to remove last-years bug splatter from vehicles that is baked on. I can only imagine how difficult that must be, especially those of you who live in the central and upper Plain states that deal with grasshoppers and locusts. Here in the upper Midwest, it is lake and bay fly hatching/infestation time and vehicles literally turn black on the front end. Roads can become slick from the tire tracks running over them. Ask anyone who lives near Wisconsin's largest inland lake, Lake Winnebago.

Thanks in advance for your help.
 
I like using Poorboys bug squash. Just did a 17ft enclosed motorcycle trailer over the weekend that was caked in our lovely south Florida Lovebugs! Stuff works. You can use it straight for tougher jobs or diluted.
 
Believe it or not, Turtle wax makes an impressive bug/tar remover. It's this RenewRx line I guess. You wash the excess dirt off, then spray and let sit for 1 minute. I usually just dab my finger on the bugs when spot treating; a little goes a long way. Then rub with a microfiber towel until bug disappears and buff to a shine. When they are a little more difficult to remove, ill wipe dry, spray/dab again, then use the microfiber mesh bug sponge. 60% of the time, it works every time (LOL). Doesnt seem to interfere with LSP either. I rinsed, dried, and applied a double coat of 845 and it's holding true.
 
No need to look any further than Poorboy's Bug Squash. I use it straight with a buff & shine mesh bug sponge. Makes short work of even baked on bug guts.

As with any bug sponge, make sure it is broken in (softened) before you use it on your painted surfaces.
 
Lonnie said:
I am reluctant to use Stoner's Tarminator on front plastic grills after having a bad experience of discoloring/lighting the black plastic of a friend's badly bug-covered car.
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I had the same experience. Not a pro, but I highly recommend PB Bug Squash. it doesn't seem to contain petroleum distillates like Tarminator, it can be diluted, and cleans really well.
 
I use 1Z Anti-Insekt, which, surprisingly enough, doesn't compromise my LSPs. Gets them off quite well even on the A8 which really picks them up during weeks-long roadtrips down south.


I don't bother getting them off all that quickly from the vehicles wearing FK1000P; I've *NEVER* had any etching on a vehicle LSPed with that. Left some bugs on the Crown Vic through fall and over the whole winter, no issues at all when I finally cleaned it up in the Spring. Of course, there are bugs, and then there are *BUGS*, so YMMV.

I can't bring myself to add anything to my washer systems, for fear that there might be some kind of downside. So we just clean the windshield the regular way (quite frequently, like at least every time something gets driven and several times a day during trips).
 
Poorboy's Bug Squash or any good car wash soap and one more important item.............Blackfire bug sponge!
 
Old Pirate said:
Poorboy's Bug Squash or any good car wash soap and one more important item.............Blackfire bug sponge!
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Yikes, I'd never use a Bug Sponge on my paint, too likely to cause marring (my Pinnacle one didn't pass the CD-test despite extended soaking). But I do use 'em on windshields. If I *HAD* to use such a thing (which I don't as the stuff always comes right off) I'd use the ValuGard Bug Pad instead, it's *much* softer.
 
Accumulator said:
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I don't bother getting them off all that quickly from the vehicles wearing FK1000P; I've *NEVER* had any etching on a vehicle LSPed with that. Left some bugs on the Crown Vic through fall and over the whole winter, no issues at all when I finally cleaned it up in the Spring. Of course, there are bugs, and then there are *BUGS*, so YMMV.
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How did I know that you, Accumulator, would put in a plug for Finish-Kare's FK1000P!! Still on my list of detailing supplies I need to have in my collection/arsenal. (But then I guess I'd be an "Accumulator", too, according to my wife!!)

As a side note to this, what prompted this question since I am the Original Poster (OP), was my wife's nephew asked me this very question about bug removal. I told him in the old days (we're talking Mid-70's) that REALLY bad bug splatter could be removed by using Coca-Cola (Yes, the original "It's the Real Thing"!) on a cotton rag prior to washing the car. It did work quite well. I've also seen baking soda and water on a rag used for removing bugs, but I thought it was too abrasive at the time. How times have changed... for the better (I hope!).
 
Lonnie- yeah, I'm sure Mr. FK1000P Fanboy all right. But at least it's based on truly objective, first-hand-experience type factors (as in, I agree it's looks aren't the [stuff] ).

Heh heh, yeah...Coke and cotton will do a lot of things effectively, just like acids and steel wool will ;)

But hey, by the '70s most of us really did know better, we were shaking our heads about the goofy stuff people did back in the '50s. Calling the mid-70s the "old days" indeed.....
 
I know it's not fashionable to recommend their products but in these parts if you drive in the sunset time period you get hundreds of midges stuck to every forward facing portion of the car. I've found Surf City Grime Destroyer works pretty well. Hit with that, let sit for a few minutes, then take my little Greenworks pressure washer to it and gone.
 
Most APC do a good job of softening bugs, then a light scrub with something with a nap. Used a product back in the day, Production red power? actually sprayed a live grasshopper and watched it dissolve, nasty stuff.
 
salty said:
Most APC do a good job of softening bugs, then a light scrub with something with a nap. Used a product back in the day, Production red power? actually sprayed a live grasshopper and watched it dissolve, nasty stuff.
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I can't even imagine what that stuff would do to rubber or LSPs
 
The first best step is having a good LSP on the front end parts that sees the most bug splatter. Makes it tougher for them to stick. Next is a decent wash soap (or detail/clay lube spray) and as/if necessary a nylon wrapped sponge (made for bug removal) to gently scrub them away.
 
Yes having a good LSP helps and yes APC's will remove bugs, but PB's Bug Squash is in a league by itself. Took me a long time hearing how great it was before I tried it (I guess that's the old dog in me). I figured it couldn't be that much better than the apc's, polishes or other bug removers I've tried.

I was, to my pleasant surprise, wrong. I guarantee that once you try it you will never want to use anything else. Granted, I have not tried every product out there but pretty darn close.

I don't usually raise one product up over others this much but, in this case, I do.
 
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