Bug Mess

[zx9r23]

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make this bug mess look better?

Its a Toyota Matrix front bumper. From daily driving in Florida with the lovely Love-Bugs! Its been washed and the rest is what has been left behind -- its actually pretty smooth to the touch.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Bug Mess

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.

[Tuck91]

Re: Bug Mess

Hey Mike, not to get off topic, but do you turn the head on all your spray products like in this picture:

[Maserati Mario]

Re: Bug Mess

If the washing doesn't take it all off
Clay it
And for the future Put a few coats of NXT on it

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Bug Mess

Hey Mike, not to get off topic, but do you turn the head on all your spray products like in this picture:

No, I was taking the picture with my right hand so I turned the head n the spray to capture the product label.

[zx9r23]

Re: Bug Mess

Thanks for the responses! I just tried the method above and it removed quite a bit. The rest seem to have etched into the paint. Looks like the tools will need to come out for this one. Would you recommend M-105 or would PlastX work here?
Thanks!

[Maserati Mario]

Re: Bug Mess

M105 will work
It's a very aggressive product
You have to be careful
In my experience, bumper paint is very thin, especially on the edges
Use M105 by hand and just be careful because "your removing paint"

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Bug Mess

Thanks for the responses! I just tried the method above and it removed quite a bit. The rest seem to have etched into the paint. Looks like the tools will need to come out for this one. Would you recommend M-105 or would PlastX work here?
Thanks!

Either M105 or Ultimate Compound.

UC will be easier to find as most auto parts stores will care it as well as Target and Walmart. For most of our Pro line products you'll need to order online or find a PBE store.

You'll basically want to do the same thing we did here to remove a bird dropping etching. Etchings = below the surface defect that means you need to remove paint and level the surface.

How To Remove a Bird Dropping Etching by Hand using M105 Ultra Cut Compound