Love bugs

[3JBS]

Anyone know how to safely remove love bug juice from paint? These bugs (in Florida) are very difficult to remove. I have tried washing, bug and tar removers, paint cleaners and clay. I have tried using #83, #80, body scrub and Scratch X to remove the defect, but I cannot get it 100% off. It is an above the surface defect that can be felt with the finger and can be visualized. Any suggestions?

[MaximusZTS]

Re: Love bugs

Start by keeping a good coat of wax on the finish. I heard the wetten dryer sheets work well to remove them as weel.

[noswirler]

Re: Love bugs

Anyone know how to safely remove love bug juice from paint? These bugs (in Florida) are very difficult to remove. I have tried washing, bug and tar removers, paint cleaners and clay. I have tried using #83, #80, body scrub and Scratch X to remove the defect, but I cannot get it 100% off. It is an above the surface defect that can be felt with the finger and can be visualized. Any suggestions?

use clay,and rub hard

[Lydia]

Re: Love bugs

What works best for me is to just wet a towel or MFT with wash solution and drape it over wherever the bugs are. Keep it wet and let it set there for a while, then once you take it off the bugs should come off easily. Also, I've heard a wet dryer sheet works, but I've never tried that since the method I described above works fine. Good luck with it!

I wouldn't suggest rubbing hard with clay when either of the above methods should work fine without running the risk of instilling scratches in the paint (as long as you don't have dirt on the towel or dryer sheet of course).

[3JBS]

Re: Love bugs

I tried a dampened Bounce fabric softener sheet. Smelled nice, but no luck removing the bug juice. The actual bug is long gone. It is the sticky / hardened residue iot leaves behind after splattering at 75 mph on my front end that is the problem. I have not tried leaving a wet clothe on the paint yet. I tried a competitors product as I couldn't find the Meguiar's bug and tar remover at PEP Boys. Any suggestions?

[Tillmanator]

Re: Love bugs

Check out this thread I started a couple of weeks ago. It must have been breeding season when I came through. I (my car) was totally covered in them. I got some helpful responses and ended up getting off all the bugs.

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16053

[Lydia]

Re: Love bugs

By bug juice I assume you mean bug guts? Or is it actual etching from the bugs?

[Jeepster04]

Re: Love bugs

What works best for me is to just wet a towel or MFT with wash solution and drape it over wherever the bugs are. Keep it wet and let it set there for a while, then once you take it off the bugs should come off easily. Also, I've heard a wet dryer sheet works, but I've never tried that since the method I described above works fine. Good luck with it!

I wouldn't suggest rubbing hard with clay when either of the above methods should work fine without running the risk of instilling scratches in the paint (as long as you don't have dirt on the towel or dryer sheet of course).

Wonder where you got that idea?

THANKS MIKE!

[Lydia]

Re: Love bugs

Actually, I used to do that before I visited this forum. Then I forgot about doing that, until I saw Mike's post. Lol.

[3JBS]

Re: Love bugs

Check out this thread I started a couple of weeks ago. It must have been breeding season when I came through. I (my car) was totally covered in them. I got some helpful responses and ended up getting off all the bugs.

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums...ad.php?t=16053

Did you try ColorX or hydrogen peroxide as suggested by some? I don't have fresh bugs on the paint. It is from 2 months ago. I power washed them off and washed the car after the trip. I didn't catch three small spots that remained from the hundreds of impacts until I went to do my total detail of the car. These small spots are driving me crazy. I don't think it is possible to rehydrate two month old remains. Any other suggestions?:confused

[Lydia]

Re: Love bugs

I really think you should try soaking them! If it doesn't work, well you didn't lose much except for a little time. If it does, then there you go.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Love bugs

Bugs Bugs and more Bugs

This tip was given to me by a forum member who attended one of our Saturday Detailing classes, I can't remember his name but I think he's a friend of Buellwinkle?

If you have dried on bug splatter, typically on the front of your car where they impact, and you want to loosen and remove the splatter without having to scrub the area with force as so not to instill any scratches into your finish, what you need to do is to soften or re-liquefy the dried bug guts.

Here is the sugggestion...

Take a wash rag and saturate it with water or your car wash solution.




Place the wet wash rag on top of the dried bug splatter and allow it to sit for a few minutes. A variation of this would be to use warm/hot water.




To speed up the process, apply some gentle pressure while drinking a cold soft drink and if need be, hum or whistle a little diddy.




Another variation of this would be to apply some Meguiar's Bug and Tar Remover to the wet wash rag before applying it to the dried bug splatter.



After a few minutes have passed give the area a gentle wipe-off and the bug splatter should remove easily. Then either wash the car as normal or wipe the area down with a quick detailer.

A variation of the above but for a larger area would be to use a larger cloth such as a bath towel. Saturate a clean, soft 100% cotton towel with water and place it over the affected area.








Allow the wet towel to sit for a short period of time and then remove the towel and wash as normal or wipe the area down with a quick detailer.

[DFTowel]

Re: Love bugs

Once you get them off... a trick I learned when I lived in Daytona in the 70's was to smear Vaseline on the front of the car before a road trip. The bugs didn't stick and the Vaseline easily washed off.

[3JBS]

Re: Love bugs

Can Compound Power Cleaner or Diamond Cut be used to remove an aggressive bug stain? I have a DA not a rotary. WOuld the new Scratch X for a DA be advisable?

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Love bugs

M85 & M84 are for rotary buffer application only, if you have a stain in your paint and want to work by hand then by all means ScratchX is the way to go, if ScratchX will not remove the defect adequately enough then the next step is to use a machine applied product from our Professional Line. If you cannot do this then you can hire a Professional to do it for you.

When ScratchX doesn't fix the problem, the answer is never to get more aggressive by hand. ScratchX will tackle most of what it is asked to do, often times when it isn't working, it's not the product but the technique.