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!