As many have probably seen, I've been an advocate of Zaino, etc...

LOTS have been discussed here about removing crap thats stuck on our paint... so, I figured it might be a good idea to chime in with things that work, WITHOUT damaging the paint for people...

So, to start, here are my suggestions for crap that sticks on your paint:

First, get it off ASAP.. Bird poop (most common) WILL ETCH PAINT. Its bad stuff.

First, water...water....water.... get water on it... unless its "oil" based (tar, etc), give old fassion H2O a shot.

Ok, water doesn't work, chemical time:

My recommendations:
(1) Soapy water... lets not start w/battery acid just yet, m-kay?
(1.5) Zaino Z-1... It works WONDERS in removing bug-guts...
(2) Bug & Tar remover... lots of brands, and from what I see, most work VERY well.
* Some of the "Citrus" version smell nice... but I'm not convinced its necessarily better.
(3) WD-40 ... won't hurt the clear, eats up gum/tar/etc... Nasty over-spray usually... so a bit of a mess.

Anyone else with suggestions?
-- Aaron

 

Never underestimate the wonders of a claybar.

When I take a road trip, I'l make sure i have a piece, a spray bottle with some lube (car soap and water) and a rinse bottle (water). Nice soft cloth and hopefully i remembered my gloss spray as well.

All the above in the first post work well also . . . .

excellent idea for a thread - will make a search function much easier to pull a useful result up

 

The best thing EVER is available at your local Honda dealer. They have a cleaner spray that you can use on the WORST bug guts, bird poop, tar, etc that is perfectly safe on paint, glass, or whatever. In May, a few of us drove from Boston to Watkins Glen, NY and our windshields and front grilles were CAKED with bugs, but one spray and a gooey terry cloth towel later, it was clean as could be.

 

Why not remove all the worries in the first place and slap on a few layers of Zaino? It works wonder. I park at school with plenty of trees in the lot, sap falls on the car everyday - a little rinse take them right off all thanks to Zaino!

A little preparation goes a long way.

 

I just went to NAPA today to get some stuff to wash my car with. I am going to order Zaino, but I am headed out of town and wanted to leave her clean. Anyways, I got "Bug-Be-Gone" and honestly, I am damn impressed. It took of bug-guts and tar like an absolute champ. There was nothing on my paint that I couldn't get off, I really recommend giving it a try. It is not expensive and it really works.

Nix

 

Indecision, guys,

Just an observation and response to Indecision's post... I went about three weeks in between cleanings after a 2 layer Z-5 application. After that time, in 100% honesty, there were bug guts that didn't rinse off and didn't wash off either (with Zaino car wash). I didn't try the undiluted car wash trick recommended by Zaino, but I just wanted to point out that bug guts and road tar didn't just rinse away for me. The stuff is tenacious, and I don't like using a fingernail on my paint surface. I'm gonna try some bug&tar remover.

Probably, the reason the stuff caked in is because I let the guts, etc. sit and bake on my car for that time rather than rinsing it off to start with! My bad

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Chazmo
[B]Indecision, guys,

Just an observation and response to Indecision's post...

 

i've also found that the bugs come off pretty easy after a good waxing with meguiars gold. i find that clay bar works amazingly well for tree sap and everything else.

 

Hey...I'm not in PW land anymore...and what's with the monkeys??

 

I have a couple of coats of Zaino and recently got the entire front and door mirrors covered in tar dots. I went over it all with the claybar and it all came off but then again so did the Zaino.
Is there anything out there that can get tar off but keep on the polish? Now I have to repolish the entire car. No problem but i dont want to take off the polish every time I get splattered again?