Insects cause a lot of trouble for drivers. While driving on long-distance highways, beetles and butterflies crash against the front parts of the car, clog the radiator, stick in spots on the bumper, hood, windshield and dry out in the warm wind. Moreover, these spots turn into a dense crust, which has to be rubbed vigorously, scratching and damaging the paintwork of the body. Not every touchless car wash can remove these stains, so you have to use special cleaning chemicals. Sprays and bottles with expensive drugs help deal with stains, but they are very expensive and run out quickly. And after the next trip, the car is again covered with dots and stains from insects. Are there any more effective and cheaper ways to deal with insect stains? We look at life hacks on car forums.
Hot wax
Motorist Igor from Syktyvkar with 35 years of driving experience advises preparing your car in advance to meet insects. Before long-distance trips, the vehicle can be coated with hot wax, which adds shine to the car and protects against the appearance of biological stains. The wax must first be diluted in hot water. The proportion and order of the application process are indicated on the label. Everything must be done according to the instructions, on which the success of the business depends. Then the body is polished. If you come across insects during a trip, they are washed off much better than on an unprotected body. Stains go away even after wiping with a wet cloth.
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How to prevent midges from sticking
To ensure that the question of how to wash off midges on a car does not arise at all, you should use a special protective coating for the body made of hard wax. The substance prevents insects from sticking and also greatly facilitates the process of washing the car. In addition, hard wax prevents scratches and other damage if dust, sand and other small objects get on the body.
You can also use liquid wax - it is even easier to apply, and the final effect is the same as with hard wax.
These rules are suitable for cleaning all elements of the car, including glass, bodywork and plastic optics.
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"Mister Muscle"
Matvey from Podolsk, near Moscow , believes that the best way to get rid of insects is the Mister Muscle household floor cleaner, but it must be green. To be sure, you need to purchase two bottles. One is used for dilution in a bucket of warm water. Using a sponge and rag, thoroughly wash the body, as well as the windshield. And the second bottle can be poured a little at a time into the washer reservoir as a preventive measure. Then you can fight stains with standard brushes while the car is moving. The main thing is not to overdo it with the consistency. If you pour too much Mr. Muscle into the tank, the water will turn into foam and the sprayer will not be able to work effectively.
Specialized means
FILL inn. Cleaner of bitumen, insect marks and linden buds
FILL inn.
Cleaner of bitumen, insect marks and linden buds Price
~ 200 rubles
FILL inn brand product (manufactured in Pushkin). Packaged in an opaque 400 ml bottle with a spray bottle. It's comfortable to work with and gets the job done. Contains aliphatic petroleum distillates (more than 30%) and flavoring (less than 5%). The remaining 65% of the components are unknown. When sprayed, a pungent odor appears that disappears after a couple of minutes. After this, you need to rinse the treated surface with water. It’s a pity that the spray bottle on the test sample began to leak immediately after the first use. And the packaging is opaque, so you have to determine the amount of liquid remaining by weight and by ear.
Result:
coped with the task
GRASS Mosquitos Cleaner. Insect cleaner
GRASS Mosquitos Cleaner.
Insect trace cleaner Price
~ 200 rubles
Produced in the Volgograd region. The composition is packaged in a transparent bottle with a convenient spray bottle - it seems to be of higher quality than that of FILL inn, but with a shorter trigger. The smell is traditional for household glass cleaners. The composition is indicated in full (we will not quote). The instructions for use indicate that after spraying you need to wait 2-3 minutes, rub the stain with a sponge and rinse with water and car shampoo, naturally from the same manufacturer GRASS. Do not allow surface to dry. The product can also be added to the windshield washer reservoir at the rate of 10–15 grams per liter of water.
Result:
Just as effective as FILL inn. At the same time, the volume is greater for the same money.
AIM-ONE Bugstar Cleaner. Remover for tar and insect traces
AIM-ONE Bugstar Cleaner.
Cleaner for tar and insect traces Price
~ 210 rubles
I don’t know who bugstars are; there is no such word in English. It’s good that on the packaging it is written in Russian that it is “Cleaner of tar and traces of insects. Removes traces of bitumen, tar, tree resin, poplar buds, traces of insects, bird droppings.” Manufacturer: Zhaoqing Odis Industries Co., Ltd, China. China. Spray in a 450 ml bottle, net weight - 300 g. In the description there is a note: “It is not recommended to apply it to glass or work with the cleaner in the sun.” Plus there is a specific smell that is not pleasant. I had no desire to continue working with this product or to buy it a second time.
Result:
It does the job, but the product consumption is too high.
ASTROhim Anti-scotch. Sticker and adhesive remover
ASTROhim Anti-scotch. Sticker and adhesive remover
Price
~ 233 rubles
What if, instead of a specialized product, we try a substitute that is supposed to remove other types of contaminants? For example, here is a bottle of spray from the Moscow brand ASTROhim with a volume of 355 ml. The product is effective and cleans well. And the smell is more pleasant than others - kind of citrusy. Although there are so many people, so many opinions. Some users call this smell annoying or put it even more harshly: “it stinks terribly.” It is convenient to apply, there is no need to rinse the treated areas with water afterwards, you just need to remove the excess product with a clean napkin.
Result:
It's not a bad thing. But it’s a little expensive to water the car after every out-of-town trip.
Wet blanket
Alexander from Moscow, with 15 years of driving experience, suggests an original way to deal with insect stains. He advises generously soaking a natural fabric blanket in a water solution of Fairy or Mr. Muscle and placing it on the hood and nose of the car. You can also pour plenty of soapy water on top to thoroughly moisten the remaining insects. The wet blanket should lie on the car all night, after which you can start cleaning. Within a few hours, the stains become soaked, the product corrodes them and penetrates deep into the biological crust. Dissolved traces of insects can be easily removed with a simple soft cloth.
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Cleaning principle
If you do not get rid of stuck insects in time, they dry out in the sun and headwinds, forming permanent spots. This problem is especially relevant in the warm season.
Advice
Before you start cleaning your car, you need to move it into the shade so that the cleaners and water do not evaporate so quickly.
Dirt can become very dry on the body and windows. If the sponge or rag used to clean the surface seems too harsh, it is better not to make sudden movements. Instead, apply more detergent to the stained area, gradually and gently removing any traces of insects.
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Cleaning the hood
You can clean the hood of traces of insects by applying polish or car shampoo to it. Soap solutions and special products are applied with gentle movements so as not to damage the paintwork.
Small insects are more difficult to remove. If dirt is stuck in a hard-to-reach place, do not use sharp objects that could damage the hood. Use brushes and wipes. A spray specially designed for such cleaning effectively deals with dirt in such places.
Important!
Headlights need to be cleaned very carefully. They are mainly made of polycarbonate, which is easily scratched by rough movements.
Cleaning the windshield
When removing insects from the windshield, remember that the chosen method should not lead to damage. This means you need to clean it carefully and slowly. Avoid using hard towels or sponges, which may cause scratches. It is better to take microfiber cloths.
You can get rid of insect marks by wiping the glass with a soapy solution and a small amount of baking soda.
White Spirit
If you come across old, dried stains that cannot be cleaned with kitchen products, then Yuri from Penza suggests using the household solvent White Spirit. This inexpensive product has long been used in the paint and varnish industry for diluting oil paints, alkyd enamels and preparing varnishes, as well as mastics. White spirit is similar in composition to kerosene and can sometimes even replace it as a fuel in burners and old lamps. It dissolves well not only biological stains, but also traces of petroleum fractions, vegetable oils and fats. True, you can’t keep it on the paintwork for a long time. After wetting the contaminated areas, it must be immediately washed off with water.
Folk remedies
As an alternative, experienced drivers advise using white spirit. The product is proven and effective. You can have no doubt about it and safely use it to remove traces of insects, not forgetting to wash the treated areas with water afterwards. The paintwork of the body will not be damaged. But white spirit is not sold in every supermarket. We are interested in publicly available funds. For example, lighter fluid or Coca-Cola.
Seasons. Lighter fluid
Seasons.
Ignition fluid Price
~ 79.99 rubles
Bottle volume - 0.5 l. Manufacturer: Kulitsky Electromechanical Plant OJSC. The composition can be applied to glass or a body by spraying from a bottle, but it is more economical to moisten a cloth and rub the contaminated areas with it. Yes, lighter fluid, consisting of a mixture of liquid paraffins, removes insect residues perfectly. But a film remains on the glass, so the list of work will also have to include abundant water procedures.
Result:
Bad life hack. It's better not to use it.
Coca-Cola Orange. Sugarless
Coca-Cola Orange.
Without sugar Price
~ 52.49 rubles
Judging by the videos on the Internet, Coca-Cola can do everything: renew family silver, break through sewer pipes, get rid of pests in the garden, clean battery terminals (but this is not certain). Insects can also be washed away with its help (we checked this). But after this, the car will have to be washed even more thoroughly than after lighter fluid, so that not a trace of the sticky liquid remains.
Result:
Not suitable as a means to remove insect residues.
Arkhyz. Natural mineral water
Arkhyz.
Natural mineral water Price
~ 31.49 rubles
One and a half liters of mineral water (ZAO Aqualine from Cherkessk) is cheaper than cola and, based on common sense, healthier. Why mineral water and not regular water? Mineral water has a high calcium content. For example, in Arkhyz it is 25 mg/l. And any housewife knows that chalk helps to clean glass until it shines. Of course, mineral water cannot be compared with specialized products; you will have to spend more effort on cleaning the car, but then you won’t have to wash the body, and in principle the life hack works. You can also add a drop of dishwashing detergent (such as Fairy) to the mineral water. But in this case, you need to somehow mark the bottle so that no one accidentally drinks its contents.
Result:
A good way. But roll up your sleeves.
Flexolvent. Hand sanitizer
Flexolvent.
Hand sanitizer Price
~ 1235 rubles
However! Prices for disinfectants, antiseptics, and sanitizers have skyrocketed in connection with well-known events. And a liter of flexolvent produced by Valdai Cosmetics LLC now costs more than specialized insect removers and even anti-scotch tape. But in connection with the same well-known events, many people now have such compositions, as they say, at hand. It is suitable for cleaning from insect residues, which is not surprising with alcohol components (denatured alcohol, isopropanol) and ethyl acetate (acetic acid ester). There are more than 30 percent of them. Flexolvent evaporates quickly, but a film remains on the surface that must be washed off with water.
Result:
The composition can be used as a substitute for special products, but in modern times this method is too expensive.
How to prevent pollution
Liquid wax, which is applied to a cleaned surface, will reduce contamination. It can be purchased in different forms, but polish is recommended. If the vehicle is going on a long trip, a liquid cover will significantly reduce the amount of dirt and make it easier to wash off flies from the car bumper with your own hands.
A special cover will prevent flies from contaminating the bumper
The radiators are additionally protected - the mesh is mounted on the lower and upper grilles. The defense fights both midges and small stones.
To prevent the expense of contacting specialists, you should promptly and effectively carry out self-cleaning from dirt. The quality of cleaning depends on the chosen method and the correctness of its use.
Source
How to wash a car bumper from insects using improvised means
Special products are more effective than homemade ones due to their chemical composition. Traditional methods of eliminating the problem were relevant before the popularization of cleaning mixtures. Nowadays they are rarely used, more often when they want to save money. But the cleaner market allows you to choose chemicals at different prices without burdening the vehicle owner’s budget.
You can wash flies from a car bumper with your own hands in different ways. Gnus (insects, mosquitoes, midges, etc.) are cleaned with household chemicals, special means or folk methods.
