Bug Stains....

[sickvy]

Hey I just had a respray done on my bonet, but after driving it and washing it every week, sometimes twice a week, I have noticed those bloody little bug splats all up my bonet won't wash out. :bang: They seem to be building up. I don't want to cut & polish as I would be doing this every weekend until theres no paint left!
Just wondering how others remove these annoying marks???

 

[NightShadow]

don't use a cut.. just use a good polish like 'Autoglym Super Resin Polish' works very well but you always going to get bugs, bird **** and the likes, if you leave them on the paint too long they'll start to etch the paint. Should buff out.

 

[Bax]

Go to the shop and get a bug and tar remover.. It's good stuff, you spray it on, then wipe it off and there you go.. Clean.

 

[SPack]

I agree with both Nightshadow and bextor84. The bug and tar remover is ok but i find you still have to put in a little elbow grease, obviously, the older the splat the harder the work. Secondly, buffing with a good quality wax polish helps to get rid of any difficult patches but the real value here is that it helps to "release" the splatter and protects the paint so some extent when you wash the car. One thing with bug and tar remover is that it is a type of solvent and will remove that protective wax coating, hence, you should reapply the wax each time you use it.

 

[SPack]

The problem of bug splatters has been getting worse for me over the last couple of months. We are on serious water restrictions in the Toowoomba area and you are not allowed to wash your car from the town water supply (by hose or bucket). The only options are to go to a commercial car wash (not my favourite option) or use water from a rain water tank. Normally I take the second, but it's time consuming coz I have to bucket the water to the car (wife complains about who do I love more; car or her? tough question.... ). End result is I don't wash as often as I should and the front of the car looks like one big bug stain.

I've been using this method that seems to work ok with heavy deposits and doesn't use "bug and tar remover".
1. Rinse off any dust & as much of the solids as you can
2. Soak a large beach towel or blanket in a bucket of warm water and your normal car wash solution then drape it over the front of the car. Need to get the wet towel in contact with as much of the paintwork as possible.
3. Keep the towel wet and leave it there for as long as you can before the next step.
4. Using the towel (keeping it in place and really drenching each section as you work) gently rub the bugs away. Dont let the towel or the paint dry off or the splatters will harden again.
5. Aftere you're done with that, to make sure you get rid of all the residue (because the bugs DO etch the paint); using the palm of your BARE HAND and plenty of water, finish the job. The bare hand can feel even the smallest bit of remaining bug so you will know if you have removed it all. (I cry when I do this because I can feel all of the stone chips as well)
6. Rinse & dry
7. Last step if neccessary is to buff with a quality wax polish.

Incidentally, using your (wet) bare hand is the BEST way of knowing your car is clean and you can feel anything that might scratch, even very small bits of debris - learned that from washing perspex helicopter windscreens.
Also, rain water is excellent for rinsing off, not so much of the dissolved minerals that leave spots on your paint if you don't chamois it off before it dries.
Sorry about the long post, just can't shut me up when I get going!

 

[Lish]

get a blue car wash ENJO mitt - they are fab! (www.enjo.com.au) just a bucket of water and no chemicals...so easy and so quick...works on the same principal as the towel trick being that the water softens them for easy removal but a lot less mucking around and much quicker. SABCO also do a cheaper version in Woolies and Coles...just as good I reckon. They wont scratch your car (I use mine on our tiger mica SS paintwork) they also get the lil pesty things off the number plate.

 

[SPack]

get a blue car wash ENJO mitt - they are fab! (www.enjo.com.au) just a bucket of water and no chemicals...so easy and so quick...works on the same principal as the towel trick being that the water softens them for easy removal but a lot less mucking around and much quicker. SABCO also do a cheaper version in Woolies and Coles...just as good I reckon. They wont scratch your car (I use mine on our tiger mica SS paintwork) they also get the lil pesty things off the number plate.

Sounds too easy! I'll hunt one down and see how it goes. Thanks!

 

[minux]

Also, rain water is excellent for rinsing off, not so much of the dissolved minerals that leave spots on your paint if you don't chamois it off before it dries.
Sorry about the long post, just can't shut me up when I get going!

rain water is terrible for cars, especially if not chamoised straight after, it leaves small etchings in the paint if left on too long, if you own a black car you would see that.

 

[SPack]

rain water is terrible for cars, especially if not chamoised straight after, it leaves small etchings in the paint if left on too long, if you own a black car you would see that.

I failed to consider all the people who live in city areas! With all the chemicals in the air down there (thanks Shell refinery) I have no doubt at all about what you are saying. Good thing for me is that I live in a the country and the rain water is very pure ('part from the odd bit of bird crap). Sorry!

 

[hsvvy05]

while we are talking about tough stains to get rid of, i have only just noticed I have about 3 small areas of tree sap (about 1/2 the size of a 5c piece) dotted around my car.

Does anyone have any good ideas for getting this stuff off once it has set? It must have falled off a tree I sometimes park under when it was raining and now it has dried and nothing I have tried so far will move it (tried cutting compond with heaps of elbow grease along with wax but nothing will budge it). They aren't huge stains, but obviously it would be nice to get rid of them.