Baked on grasshopper guts
- Thread starter RickS
- Start date
Mike Phillips
Active member
- Dec 5, 2022
- 51,004
- 6
Welcome to our forum Rick...
If the guts have etched through the clear this will leave an unsightly blemish and because the clear paint is now missing the only real way to fix it is with touch-up paint.
If the guts have just stained the clearcoat, then you can use a compound or polish to remove the opaqueness of the stain and restore clarity to the clear layer of paint and then apply some wax.
Bug guts are a horrible problem as they can do a lot of damage very quickly to your car's precious thin clearcoat finish.
If the guts have etched through the clear this will leave an unsightly blemish and because the clear paint is now missing the only real way to fix it is with touch-up paint.
If the guts have just stained the clearcoat, then you can use a compound or polish to remove the opaqueness of the stain and restore clarity to the clear layer of paint and then apply some wax.
Bug guts are a horrible problem as they can do a lot of damage very quickly to your car's precious thin clearcoat finish.
Mike Phillips
Active member
- Dec 5, 2022
- 51,004
- 6
In the future, when possible try to remove bug splatter while it's still fresh.
If you live in a place where bug splatter is a problem, keep some clean microfiber towels and either a dedicated bug splatter remover or a waterless wash or a spray detailer in your car and remove this stuff ASAP.
If it's already dried, here's some tips to help remove the bug splatter because it can become as hard as concrete.
Tips & Tricks: How to remove dried bug spatter or bug guts
Here's a tip I posted in 2005, the idea being to use the towel to hold the moisture onto the paint and thus the bug splatter where it can go to work softening and loosening the splatter. A large beach towel works well for this...
This was my Honda Pilot in our garage where I would also wash the garage because it's pretty hard to wash a car in the desert without the dry heat or the wind drying water before you can dry your car.
Take a wash rag and saturate it with water or your car wash solution.
Place the wet wash rag on top of the dried bug splatter and allow it to sit for a few minutes. A variation of this would be to use warm/hot water.
To speed up the process, apply some gentle pressure while drinking a cold soft drink and if need be, hum or whistle a little diddy.
A variation of the above but for a larger area would be to use a larger cloth such as a bath towel. Saturate a clean, soft 100% cotton towel with water and place it over the affected area.
Another variation for headlights and fenders...
Big Picture
The idea being to use some type of bath towel or microfiber towel or even wash cloth or wet chamois to trap and hold water onto the dried bug splatter in order to soften and re-liquefy it so you can more easily remove it without causing damage to the delicate, scratch-sensitive clear coat finish.
:xyxthumbs:
If you live in a place where bug splatter is a problem, keep some clean microfiber towels and either a dedicated bug splatter remover or a waterless wash or a spray detailer in your car and remove this stuff ASAP.
If it's already dried, here's some tips to help remove the bug splatter because it can become as hard as concrete.
Tips & Tricks: How to remove dried bug spatter or bug guts
Bug Spatter can actually eat through and remove paint if left on too long...
Tip: Water soften the dried bug guts and splatter with water first.
Trick: Use a towel to hold water in place on a vertical panel.
Trick: Use a towel to hold water in place on a vertical panel.
Here's a tip I posted in 2005, the idea being to use the towel to hold the moisture onto the paint and thus the bug splatter where it can go to work softening and loosening the splatter. A large beach towel works well for this...
This was my Honda Pilot in our garage where I would also wash the garage because it's pretty hard to wash a car in the desert without the dry heat or the wind drying water before you can dry your car.
Take a wash rag and saturate it with water or your car wash solution.
Place the wet wash rag on top of the dried bug splatter and allow it to sit for a few minutes. A variation of this would be to use warm/hot water.
To speed up the process, apply some gentle pressure while drinking a cold soft drink and if need be, hum or whistle a little diddy.
A variation of the above but for a larger area would be to use a larger cloth such as a bath towel. Saturate a clean, soft 100% cotton towel with water and place it over the affected area.
Another variation for headlights and fenders...
Big Picture
The idea being to use some type of bath towel or microfiber towel or even wash cloth or wet chamois to trap and hold water onto the dried bug splatter in order to soften and re-liquefy it so you can more easily remove it without causing damage to the delicate, scratch-sensitive clear coat finish.
:xyxthumbs:
