Bee Droppings? Difficult to get off.

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paul914

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I have seen posts on this before but I cant find a definitive answer.

Here in Southern California we get tons of what I understand to be bee droppings. They are small and yellow, sometimes a little brown when they dry.

They get everywhere, and basically after cleaning my car there is usually one that has already dropped, its like they know. They do not etch.

What doesn't work:

My Kranzle pressure washer has trouble getting some of them off. It can get most, but some, even up close with high pressure have trouble budging. I have used bug and tar remover and that doesn't work. Clay doesn't budge a lot of them (medium clay bar). A strong soap doesn't budge them. A cleaner wax doesn't budge them.

What does work:

A good soaking usually loosens them, but when washing the car outdoors I can't leave it soaked for any period of time, and this is inefficient. A finger nail will get them off, but that is highly inefficient. A waterless wash, helps, focusing the stream on the dropping and spraying them repeatedly to saturate them then wiping, but this is inefficient too.


Everything that does work is inefficient. I know there are some pros that do this stuff for a living, and I would think that they cant waste time messing with these. Does anyone have advice on how they deal with these swiftly and efficiently?

Thanks!
 
paul914 said:
I have seen posts on this before but I cant find a definitive answer.

Here in Southern California we get tons of what I understand to be bee droppings. They are small and yellow, sometimes a little brown when they dry.

They get everywhere, and basically after cleaning my car there is usually one that has already dropped, its like they know. They do not etch.

What doesn't work:

My Kranzle pressure washer has trouble getting some of them off. It can get most, but some, even up close with high pressure have trouble budging. I have used bug and tar remover and that doesn't work. Clay doesn't budge a lot of them (medium clay bar). A strong soap doesn't budge them. A cleaner wax doesn't budge them.

What does work:

A good soaking usually loosens them, but when washing the car outdoors I can't leave it soaked for any period of time, and this is inefficient. A finger nail will get them off, but that is highly inefficient. A waterless wash, helps, focusing the stream on the dropping and spraying them repeatedly to saturate them then wiping, but this is inefficient too.


Everything that does work is inefficient. I know there are some pros that do this stuff for a living, and I would think that they cant waste time messing with these. Does anyone have advice on how they deal with these swiftly and efficiently?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Weird because I get those every day here in Central Florida. I guess the key is having a smooth finish and a good sealer. With that these wipe off easily with either my Griot's Best of Show Detailer or ONR detailer. Every few weeks I put on a new coat of Beadmaker after a maintenance wash and in between those I do an ONR wash.

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Here in SoCal, it doesn't matter what you do to the car to protect it, they don't come off easily with any method known to man. Bee poop is called frass is it's basically digested pollen. Fortunately, they don't seem to ever etch the clear. The way we get them off, and we deal with this in volume on a daily basis, is to TRY and wash mitt most of them off, pressure wash what we missed and the last few remaining usually come right off with a damp drying towel during the drying process. On cars with paint in poor condition, they might take a little scraping to get them off.
 
I wonder if something like the Sonax insect sponge would work? It does a good job on dried insect spatters.

I soaked my in my wash bucket and then used it on a few random splatters this weekend. It tends to soften up a bit when really wet, and I was surprised by how well it removed bugs without having to scrub in a way it would scratch the paint. I'd think it might be just as effective on the bee droppings.

I do feel your pain. When I lived in Hawaii my car would be covered in the stuff all the time.
 
just lurking to see what the buzz was about. I knew I wouldn't bee disappointed. carryon.
 
That's bee poop? Every single car that I work on has those little spots and I usually use my fingernail. I had no idea what it was from, but they're a PITA.
 
How about useing an APC or alkaline degreaser. Spray on and let it dwell and PW clean rinsing it off. Or as briarpatch mentioned a citrus based degreaser. You might need to be aggitate it in the middle of the dwell time. Ad an extra spray for a little longer dwell time. Maybe something like the Poorboy's Bugs Squash or Optimum Power Clean or Carpro MultiX.
 
Eldorado2k said:
Finger nail.
Click to expand...

Exactly!

I love this forum, and the info I have gleaned from here.

But every single little thing doesn't need a chemical or another product to buy as the only solution.

I routinely find these on my truck, and the only thing that gets them off without fail, and in less then a split second is your own fingernail.
 
PaulMys said:
Exactly!

I love this forum, and the info I have gleaned from here.

But every single little thing doesn't need a chemical or another product to buy as the only solution.

I routinely find these on my truck, and the only thing that gets them off without fail, and in less then a split second is your own fingernail.
Click to expand...

I typically don't like using my fingernail to remove something unless there isn't a more gentle way of removing the offending material. On our maroon Toyota a fingernail will easily mar the soft paint and even on my VW's black paint you will get marring when using you fingernail. I've done it personally and been really disappointed by putting marks on what was otherwise a perfectly polished car. Since this stuff is pretty common, you could end up with little marred spots all over the car from where you scratched it off. This is why I use a chemical or a soft bug scrubber on spots like that.
 
Those bug sponges might do the trick. Regardless, they're great to have. I'm specifically talking about the Scrub Daddy/Pinnacle Bug Sponge (they're the same thing, but one is cheaper and easier to use).

One other solution that doesn't require rinsing like a bug sponge or degreaser would is to use an enzyme based bug remover. If it's about breaking down proteins/organic matter then it may be compatible enough to use one like Duragloss Bug Remover. Not all bug removers can just be sprayed, left to sit, and wiped off though. Duragloss is the only one I know of off the top of my head but I'm sure others exist.
 
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