My wife and I live in Central Florida. Every year once in the spring and once in the fall we have Love Bug season.
Some years are worse than others.

Love Bugs only purpose in life is to hit your car, splatter and if not removed within a reasonable amount of time the remains of the bug will eat through most kinds of clear coat on the car. The remains can also damage plastic grills and head light lenses.

They are also a royal pain to get off your car.


We just bought a new car this past December and are looking to have it Ceramic coated but have not gotten around to it yet.
So my question is, what kind of wax do you use on your car to protect it from Love Bugs?

In the past we have just used regular wax but I am looking for something a little better.

Thanks

Don't have love bugs, but do like to keep my vehicles clean. They're both black.

The '23 Jeep my wife bought got Adam's Advanced Graphene ceramic right after we bought it & it has been awesome. Had enough left over to do the 8 year old truck & that has worked out well too.

I topped both with some spray-on Meguire's hybrid ceramic and it seems to help. Water beads & rolls off easily, no spots. MUCH easier to clean.
I wouldn't pay a grand for a ceramic, but I'll do the Adam's every 2-3 years and a maintenance wash (wash, clay, spray-on) every 6 months or so.

I had a job washing trucks for fleets down there.
Non stick cooking spray made spraying them off easier on the ones who used it.

The cops here spread vaseline on the front bumper and hood. They say love bugs come off easy.

quote:

Originally posted by 71 TRUCK:
In the past we have just used regular wax but I am looking for something a little better.

Last weekend, I made a detailed post about DIY driveway detailing on a budget. Follow the steps the link for gettng it clean and then use the spray sealant I listed. Snidera's recommended spray-on Meguire's hybrid ceramic is a good budget friendly choice too.

quote:

Originally posted by 71 TRUCK:
So my question is, what kind of wax do you use on your car to protect it from Love Bugs?

The above spray sealant is your base and it's budget friendly. For the twice a year Love Bug season, if your budget permits step it up a notch with this Bug Kit from McKee's 37.. Before you take a long drive, spray their Coyote bug guard on all front facing surfaces. Most of them should rinse off with a hose afterward, but the ones that don't the bug remover will make for easy removal.

quote:

Originally posted by snidera:
Don't have love bugs

You're lucky. You wouldn't believe these things. Twice a year, practically every body of water no matter how big or little (i.e. drain to river) there will be a cloud of these decent sized, juicy bugs that make big splatters. They're called love bugs because they attach to each other when mating.

Motorcycling, during the twice a year love bug season I'll have to stop to clean my the visor on my helmet 2 to 4 times on a ride.

I have the same issue in Fl. and use a spray on product call "Spray-Way" glass cleaner to remove the bugs and then apply a good wax to protect the paint. You can find it at any Walmart store for $2-3 a can. I spray it on the areas,(let it foam up on the areas) that have bugs/debris, let it sit a couple minutes,(try not to use it out in direct sunlight as it dries out pretty quick) and either use a car wash brush/cleaner tool and rinse off. I have been using it for years and never had a problem with the paint/finish as long as you wax it after use. I use a Mother's or Meguiar's NXT afterwards. The glass cleaner doesn't have ammonia it and I use for many things inside the house and on car tint, as it is made for it.

Telephone Bugs...they say hello and hang up.

During lovebug season I keep a bottle of water in my vehicles along with a baggie of dryer sheets. I’ll wet the dryer sheet with water and they wipe right off (all bugs actually) and then follow up with a damp microfiber cloth. I don’t drive much but if I’m out and about during that time it’s done as soon as I get home. I use Zaino products.

I use Technician’s Choice Ceramic spray. A gallon runs 45 dollars and I cut it with water. We don’t have those dreaded love bugs here but they are in South Alabama.

Tech 582 is another name for it. It sprays on and buffs off easily. So far, no bugs have stuck to the car’s finish. I’ve used it in conjunction with McGuiars ceramic hyper wax and both do a great job protecting the paint.

It’s not a true ceramic coating but it works well. I re-apply it cut with water as a drying agent.

If I were headed to love bug country, I’d bring a spray bottle with me and get them off asap.

quote:

Originally posted by snowdog:

During lovebug season I keep a bottle of water in my vehicles along with a baggie of dryer sheets. I’ll wet the dryer sheet with water and they wipe right off (all bugs actually) and then follow up with a damp microfiber cloth.

Yup. The Florida removal tool for love bugs. Dryer sheets. Like "Bounce" or any other brand.

Love bug season rolls around twice yearly, May and September.

Thank you everyone for the information.

After trying a local car wash we decided to just buy all the stuff, again, that we needed to wash our own car.
Having not gotten around to getting the car coated with some sort or protectant and love bug season just around the corner I thought giving it a good waxing with a good wax will help save the clear coat.

As far as removing them once the splatted, I have used some of the methods recommended including using a wet dryer sheet and a lot of water, however the dryer sheets being a little rough, I did not want to take a chance that I might scratch the new paint.
On our old cars it was not a big deal to use a dryer sheet but I am hesitant on the new car.

Once again thanks everyone

Put a hand towel over the bugs and wet with hydrogen peroxide, wipe the bugs off after 20 minutes.

We used to smear Vaseline on the front of the truck when I lived in Fla.

Easiest to get off are laundry dryer sheets I use Arm and Hammer. Wet them and rub on the paint. Comes right off. Learned that from my motorcycle days

Mr. Zog's Sex wax?

I’ve used collonite fleet wax

Combined with Bug squash to wash and remove

I’ll have to try the Mckees referenced above. I’ve got some pretty good hatches occuring currently

quote:

Originally posted by powermad:
I had a job washing trucks for fleets down there.
Non stick cooking spray made spraying them off easier on the ones who used it.

Yep old truck driver trick, PAM cooking spray. I had my side window open and not sure how but actually had a love bug stuck to the inside of my window once.

Dryer sheets won't hurt the paint or scratch it unless you get some micro sized rock out of a bugs ass that you wipe off.. I get the sheet good and wet, soak the front of the vehicle with water and then rub off the bugs, you don't really have to dig in to get most off, the dryer sheet softens up the bug goo and off it comes.

I use them on the motorcycle and vehicles from my older F150 to the Newer Lincoln.

For wax any good wax will do as a protectant, some better than others from Turtle Wax to a Full on Professional Ceramic coating.

On the bike I use a product Jimmy123 recommended as it is used on the boats, yachts, that he takes out into the salt water, RejeX. It's a sealant that has a high gloss finish and creates a layer between the pain an the love bugs. You can put it on paint, glass, plexiglass, plastic, so you can cover the whole front end. Makes it easy to get the bugs off but I still use a wet dryer sheet.

Link

It all depends on the level of protection you want.