Today I was presented with a van that hadn’t seen a wash mitt in a long time. There was very heavy bug buildup as well as dirt. The bugs were concentrated on the front and some of the front quarter panels. The dirt was pretty much all over.
Another thing that was not playing in our favor for removing such heavy bug buildup was the van had not been driven for some time. So with these facts in hand one can already know how much time this is going to take. Good thing it was 8am on a weekend. I had all of the time in the world to complete the task. The first thing I did was great the customer and immediately went to work. First I hosed down the van for what seemed like forever. In actuality it was probably more like ten minutes. This is not your normal wash all loose dirt off and go. Oh no this was going to require some work. So after rinsing off all loose dirt I concentrated a jet stream of water on the front bumper and hood area. You have to be careful here. You should not hold the end of your hose close to the car. If there are small cracks or missing paint it could peal back the paint from the water pressure. So although you want to get a good heavy stream of water on there you do not want to have it peeling back paint. Customers tend to disapprove of a striped down version of their car.
Here you can take a look at what the van looked like before we began the heavy bug removal. It looks like it drove through a dirt storm and got hit with rouge bug grenades. The thing was covered. No need to worry.
So after hosing it down for a few minutes I sprayed some bug and tar remover on it. I let this sit there for about three minutes. This gives the bug removal products to work into the bugs carcass and start breaking it down. While waiting for the bug remover to work I made up my wash buckets. Once a few minutes went by I began to wash the van as I normally would.
First things first. Start on the wheels they have lots of nasty gunk that you don’t want getting splashed on your vehicle once it’s clean. The wheels had very heavy dirt buildup. That can be seen here. 
The same procedure for the dirty wheels was undergone sans bug/tar remover. A good tip to remember when touching your vehicle is to start with the least agressive method and work your way towards most. This means if you can get the bugs off with just a microfiber wash mitt then do it that way. This obviously was going to need much more than a microfiber. So I got off what I could with the microfiber and then began to scrub it with the backside which has a microfiber scrub mitt. Although these claim to not scratch, watch out! They can scratch and will if used while dirty so make sure your mitt is very thoroughly rinsed out when you begin your heavy bug removal. After making one pass at the soiled areas it’s good to rinse dry and inspect. Many times bugs are only visible in a certain light or angle. Make sure you get them all, even if it takes a few passes. As long as you stick with this guide you should have no problem. This works for bugs on the painted surfaces and glass. A recent discovery has found that for the glass the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers work exceptionally well. You cannot use these on the interior if the vehicle has tinted windows. Below is what the results are expected to look like for heavy bug removal.
Notice how the wheel area and the front are completely clean. We have spent a lot of time testing out a lot of different methods and chemicals to use. Believe me when I say that this is the fastest most cost effective way to do it while keeping your paint safe. Some people suggest using a dryer sheet and wetting it and rubbing it on the bugs like a scrubber. I will not tell you that this won’t help with heavy bug removal. In fact I will confirm that this does in fact remove the heavy bugs. What it fails to do though is protect your paint. If you are to use the dryer sheet method you are running the risk of messing your vehicle up more than the bugs already did. Products in this category don’t seem to have that far of seperation from top to bottom. What this means is, they are all essentially the same. Just remember to use this simple but very effective technique. I cannot tell you how many people just rinse apply bug and tar remover and expect great results. The hosing down for a long time really does do the best job. Remember what they taught you in school. Water is the universal solvent. If it can carve out the grand canyon it can definitely cut through bugs.
