OMG. This has EASILY been the worst season for love bugs in Florida. You literally cannot drive 30mph for 2 miles without having 20 splat on your car. I'm not exaggerating at all. And well.... between working full time and and school full time, I can't wash the car even every other day. So bug guts must sit on my car for 3 days. Just washed it and took extra care to scrub the hell out of my front bumper/hood area. Well, after I rinse I clearly see there is still guts every where. What's the best method to removing these foul beasts? And I knew bug's have acid in them that eats paint, but holy hell. I didn't think it was THAT serious. How long is too long for them to sit on my car? 72 hours is too long? I'm honestly gonna have to take a bucket and soap with me every where I go.

 

I've never lived anywhere that had love bugs BUT I would think your best option now is to clay bar the car.

 

Not be careful when you scrub. In fact you shouldn't be doing ANY scrubbing. (At least that's what I have been told) You are just rubbing in anything on your car.

 

Why not? Brillo pads are no good?

 

I wouldn't even leave them on the car for 24 hours.

I'm not going to drive my car for the next 4 weeks.

 

Sometimes I wake up with just enough time to shower and eat granola in the car. Don't get home until 9-10pm..... obviously not washing the car every single day. Waiting for my re-up of Zaino to arrive. Then I'll claybar etc... but what's the use if in 12 hours it's going to be one giant love bug on wheels?

 

you don't have to wash the car. Just get a microfiber towel and rub them off the front bumper, hood and side view mirrors.

I had some relatives come over from NJ in their new jeep. I don't know how long the love bugs were on their jeep, but after 3 days at my house, the bug guts had etched into the paint and after washing the car you could still see the etching in the clear coat.

 

Love bugs?



Check out the windshield....


That was last weekend. I still need to scrub 'em off. Hehehe.

 

.... I don't think that's such a good idea. Not without water atleast.


I HATE THESE DAMN THINGS!!!!!!!

 

Yes, of course

 

Warm Water On Rag By Hand Every Nite

 

I wouldn't leave them on 24 hours. I know it sucks, but take the extra ten minutes when getting home to get them off. I don't know if this is the worst year or not, but they've been bad that last week or so. They eased off over here today, so maybe it's on the down slide.
Seriously................while I cannot recommend this, I can tell you that long ago.........I used to work at a gas station on Busch Blvd. just outside of Busch Gardens. We'd get these massive Winnebago's come in with like a weeks worth of bugs as they had come all the way down I-4 from like friggin Daytona. They would pull in and ask if we would clean the front and windshield. We'd say....no freakin way.........and hand them the bucket. In the bucket was about a 35% ammonia and 65% water. I would wax soon after this though! If no ammonia, then for sure use water as you wipe them off.....don't scrub too hard, I know that sounds ridiculous, but try to be gentle. I just found that glass cleaner works(probably due to some ammonia), but don't let that sit on there too long either! Get that stuff off with water afterwards.............and wax at first chance!!!!
I'll bet if you do an online search we might find out what the best thing to use is. I know that people were using PAM for awhile as a way to get them to none stick, but I think that turned out to be harmful as well.

 

I know that might seem bad..........and I'm sure you know this, but that is nothing!
Go take a seat on a 95 off ramp somewhere and you'd get some insane pics. People up North would just freakout if they never saw them before. I've seen cars you thought had a front mask only to find out it's bugs when the come closer!

 

Yeah they're pretty bad alright.

Had to laugh at a couple from Arizona I talked to at the carwash today. Guy said this was the second time in two days he had to wash the car. He was driving a Benz and you could tell he was thoroughly ticked off at the little buggers.


I find having a good quality coat of wax (and keeping it regularly waxed) really helps too. Bug splats are much easier to clean off.

 

I think most motor homes have either fiberglass paneling or aluminum siding looking stuff? A little different....

And I know exactly what you mean about I-95. I just drove from Melbourne to the Avenues in Viera. BIG MISTAKE. 80mph for 15 minutes.... not good. About 400 bugs later, I'm pissed.

 

Yea, I get bug splatter all the time here. It's like they literally wander into my direction even at 50 mph as if they had a deathwish. I make sure I wipe them off with water + microfiber if I can't wash. My bumper has a dozen chips anyway so I don't really care about microscratches.

 

We used it on everything......windsheilds, bumpers, teeth, things like that!

 

And of course you know that you have the good folks at U of F to thank for them right? They were brought in as a lab experiment to control(eat) mosquito larvae, but they escaped! Bastards! And since they are so acidic, nothing eats them! Wait till they learn how to bite or sting!

 

I did know that actually..... but they gave us gatorade too. ... .... ..... I think I'd rather have no gatorade and no bugs...

 

I looked up love bugs online, and found this on wikipedia:


Wikipedia also says they weren't made by Univ of Florida - they spread from TX and LA through most of the gulf.


Finally, as far as etching time..

 

Looks like you may be correct in that maybe it wasn't U of F, but there are apparently two species, so I don't know. I've more sites that say they arrived from C.A. naturally through Texas than I did blaming U of F, but they apparently were brought there for study. I did find a site with the following on it, so I'm gonna try baking soda next time. I'm not endorsing any method below, just something I found.



We begin our list of love bug solutions with a preventive measure. At first sight of insect infatuation, spray the front of your car with cooking spray. Just as with scrambled eggs, the bugs will not stick to the sprayed surface, and any that do will clean off easily with soap and water.

Let's move on from this ounce of prevention to the pound of cure: namely, removal of bugs and stains after impact.

Apply oven cleaner spray to the area, let it stand a while, then wash it off with a sponge and water.

Mix a half cup of baking soda into 1 gallon of water, apply the mixture to the area with a sponge and let it stand for one minute. Wash off and rinse.

A commercial cleaner, Shaklee Basic-H, can be mixed and applied to the besmirched area. Let it stay for two minutes, then rinse.

The laundry product Spray 'n Wash also is useful in debugging. Just spray, let it sit for a couple of minutes, then wash off.

Super Clean, a Castrol product, can be applied, left for a few minutes, then washed off.

Simple Green, a product sold in supermarkets as well as by discount stores like Kmart and Wal-Mart, should be mixed according to directions, applied and washed off.

Applications of WD-40 may be made directly to the area; but NOTE that it may leave a residue and the product is highly flammable, so don't use it near flames or heat sources.

Diesel fuel will power bug corpses from your car's finish, while it removes accumulated road scum from a variety of sources.


I still say that diluted ammonia works well.

 

Can't always trust Wikipedia..... anyone can edit it. They have a lot of truth, but I have also found stuff totally false on there. Use with caution.

I don't know how keen I am about using any of the above mentioned chemicals on my paint. Plenty of that type of stuff will eat right through clear coats. You'll have paint on your microfiber too. Did that with my last car. I'm not spraying PAM on my car and rollin around like that....lol.... might try the ammonia solution or spray-n-wash or something gentle like that

 

I would agree...........maybe some slight ammonia based, but that's about it. I think even baking soda if not diluted enough could be really abrasive.

 

Ok so I used to live in the Panhandle and know what your going through. Get a Downy drier sheet or two and lightly wet the area needed to br cleaned, gently wash off the "Love Bugs" and then use some pure Carnuba wax and put on three or so coats. Once they are off and all is shined up find someone to put the 3M clear bra on and you wont have to worry about it again.

Worked for me but thats only my .02 worth.

 

Diesel Fuel FTW