If you own a car, you know how irritating it is to deal with bug and tar, especially in the summer. To some extent they can ruin your car paint, leave marks and affect visibility.
Cleaning your car every time after returning from a trip is not something pleasing to anyone. Every problem has a solution, and it is not an exception in this case too.
In this article, we are going to tell you how you can get rid of bug and tar from your car.
Read More: How to Remove Smoke Smell from Car
How to Remove Bugs From Car Without Damaging Paint
1. Clean ASAP
Are you familiar with the term ‘bug juices’? We assume most of you are. But if this is something new that you are hearing, it is when the bugs come to the conduct, the bugs smash in cars’ mirror and paint.
As it is a form of a liquid, if you wait too long to clean it, it will become dry, and it will be difficult for you to remove. You might end up taking off the paint of your car a bit.
So, you know what to do. Do not wait too long, and clean it from the car’s mirror and paint as soon as possible.
2. Clean After Returning From A Trip
You will end up picking a lot of bugs if you go for a trip or on country road driving. Make sure you clean them off from your car within two days after coming back home.
3. Use An Oily Substance On Car’s Body
If the bugs do not come off easily, then using an oily substance will do the trick for you. Oily solution like WD-40 can be a good choice in this regard. Apply the liquid with a rag, or you can use a spray can. Make sure you are using it only on car’s body.
Let the liquid soak for 10 minutes. After that, you know what to do. Take a towel and wipe off every single enemy of your car’s precious body.
For best result, wipe in the circular motion. Do not scrub too hard, or you might end up damaging your paint job.
Few things you need to be careful about
- If you use a steel wool pad or a tough sponge to remove bugs, you will ruin the paint.
- If you are able to catch bugs before they become dry, you will need only one pass to wipe them off. But if the bugs completely dry out, then clean the car first and then apply an oily substance and let it dry for 10 minutes, and wipe one more time.
You can also remove tar with this method of cleaning.
Note that, you can also use other oily substances. Just make sure, before you purchase, you have a suggestion from an expert or a professional.
4. Cleaning The Windshield And Windows
When it comes to clean the windshield as well as the windows, you need to go differently to remove bugs off the glasses. Most of the time, the mixture of water and dishwashing soap gets the work done.
If that cleaning technique does not work, then go to a local auto parts store and ask them to give you a car window soap. Make a mixture of water and that soap. Spray it on the windshield and windows then let it soak for 10 minutes.
Now, scrub off the bugs. You might need a scrubbing sponge if they are difficult to clean off.
5. Give Your Car A Shower
When you are finished with the bugs, it is time to give your car a proper bath with water. Washing the car at the end will take away the residue from the chemicals that you used previously.
Protect Your Car From Love Bugs
Even though their name is love bugs, they are not lovely to the drivers at all. During spring and fall weeks, love bugs tend to be smashed on windshields and grilles of cars.
Sometimes the numbers of these love bugs are so many that it feels like it is raining on your car.
Love bugs are the most irritating kind of bugs you probably would ever counter. They can seriously ruin your paint job. Therefore, precaution is the key thing to deal with them. Prevent any damage in the first place.
How is that going to happen? Let’s help you out.
Apply a heavy coat of wax (we are talking about car wax here) to the front side of your car. Doing it once every couple of weeks sound pretty protected.
What it does is, it creates a sacrificial barrier on top of your car paint. It takes the brunt of damage before it reaches the top clear coat.
To minimize the paint damage, keep a coat of car wax in your car and wipe the bodies off whenever you get the opportunity.
Remember, the longer they will be on your car’s body, the harder it would be to wash them off, which will result in paint damage to your car.
How to Remove Tar From Car Paint
Both the bug and tar are sticky substances that stick to your car. Among these two, tar is even easier to remove than the bugs.
When you are on the road, your car gets bombarded with specks of asphalt, grease, and oils.
1. Things To Use
As removing tars is easier than the bugs, you do not need to purchase liquid substances from the local auto store. But if you still want to go with one, you have the option to buy such as WD-40, commercial tar remover, and gone.
Especially, if it is petroleum-based contaminants, you must use a strong detergent.
But I just said you do not need to buy anything from the store. You can easily remove the tar by using peanut butter. Sounds crazy right? Just give it a try and see the result by yourself.
2. The Wiping Mission
With the help of a soft cloth, go ahead and try to wipe off the tar. If they are hard to remove, then you can apply an oily substance product and wait for few minutes. Once again wipe off with the soft cloth until your car’s body is free from the tar.
3. Wash The Car With Water
When your car is tar-free, you need to wash the car to get rid of residue left by the tar removal substance.
How To Prevent Bug And Tar From Attacking The Car?
Why think about curing, when you can take steps to prevent the problem? If you take care of your car properly, half of the work will be done. Once every week wash your car’s front side with warm water and a microfiber sponge.
For bugs like love bugs, we have mentioned earlier what you need to do. Even a light coat of baby oil will do the trick. Do not use non-stick cooking spray. It leaves a residue which is not good for your car’s paint job.
To keep the radiator and grill clean, bug shields and screens can come in handy.
Final Words
We understand how much you take care of your car. Nobody likes seeing his car’s windshield, and grill full of bugs and tar. But it cannot do any damage to your paint job when you know how to deal with it.
Now that you have read the entire article, hopefully removing bugs and tar from your car does not seem that difficult to you.
Myself Erick R. Jackson, I am a Computer Science graduate by law but a passionately enchanted blogger by profession.
A few years back, it all started with my first blog website. It was about to deal and heal with automotive hand tools. Well, it brought me a good audience base for sure, which then dragged me out of my major and got me to sit and write, and be a blogger. Read more
