GET BUGS OFF FAST!
“My car was coated w
ith bugs after a trip, so I had the top wash at another car wash. It came out with all the bugs still on it and the finish still dull. So I went to Cleaner Quicker Car Wash and got their Platinum wash. NO MORE BUGS and my car SHINES LIKE NEW! How great it is to have such a terrific car wash here in Sedona!” – Bob W., Sedona, AZ.
Baked on bugs can ruin your vehicles beautiful finish if you don’t get them off quickly. Arizona’s hot sun quickly dries out the liquid in the bug and concentrates the acid remains. This not only makes them more difficult to remove, but the acid will start to dissolve clear coating, leaving the white marks you’ve seen on some vehicles. Finally, the acids begin to eat into the paint itself.
Eventually, the proteins from the bugs will form stronger bonds with the underlying surfaces as well and make them even more difficult to remove safely over time. We have seen some neglected finishes where the bug remnants had literally melded in with the paint itself, making them impossible to remove without buffing off the contaminated paint and re-painting.
However, bugs must be taken off with care to avoid damaging the car’s finish. Several rules of thumb. First, you never apply chemicals to take them off when the surface is very hot or the paint and chrome might fade. Second, it is important use the right chemicals and equipment to remove them. For example, never use paper towels on paint or chrome, which can cause scratches, much less steel wool or hard bristle brushes.
Therefore we use special chemicals, sponges and brushes. When you get our Platinum wash or a hand prep with one of the other washes, you’ll see us spray the “bugged” areas of your vehicle with a squirt nozzle at the end of a long slender hose emanating from the wall. That hose originates from a tank in the equipment room where we mix the chemicals used for bug removal. We change the mixture in different “bug seasons”.
The right chemical will penetrate the bug remains and soften them and their bond with the surface of the paint. On the other hand, excessively harsh chemicals can soften and damage paint and plastic as well and be difficult to wash away themselves. We spray the bug chemical on the effected spots first to give it dwell time to do its job while we prep the rest of the vehicle. When we return it is normally softened enough to get off readily and gently. We use brushes made with hogs’ hair because they are gentle enough not to scratch, yet strong enough to do an excellent job of cleaning. The sponges we use are also specially designed for this type of work. They are abrasive enough to remove the softened bugs, but not so abrasive that they scratch the paint.
We typically only finish with a power wash in this area if it is needed. Care must be taken in these areas in case there is already paint or clear coat damage from someone’s having removing bugs improperly in the past, since excessively harsh chemicals could have left the surface fragile.
Most important of all, don’t give them too long to dissolve and begin to eat away at your vehicles finish. Come on in and let us do it properly and safely for you and at the same time give you back a car that looks new again!
