Removing Love Bugs From a Car

How To Protect Your Car From Lovebugs

That’s right, it’s around that time for the season of the lovebugs! These guys come in flights, and can number in the hundreds of thousands. Two major flight seasons occur each year. The first is in the late spring, and the second is in the late summer. For those of you in the southern states, you may be able to pin-point exactly when the lovebugs arrive.

Why is this happening? 

These flies, otherwise known as the honeymoon fly or kissingbug, are harmless to you and me but can be quite a nuisance to your car. They have a slight acidic body chemistry that can be harmful to your car. Because they can exist near highways, they often die on car windshields, hoods, and radiator grills when cars travel at high speeds.

Why are they so hard to remove?

If they’re left baked-on for more than an hour or two, the remains become dried and extremely difficult to remove. The acidity of the dead body often result in pits and etches in the car’s paint and chrome if not quickly removed. However, advances in automotive paints and protective coatings have reduced this threat significantly. What do you do if the bugs are already baked-on? No worries! With a little help from an insect remover and a good bug sponge, those flies will fall right off. For more detailed information on how to scrub those suckers off, here’s our blog on how to easily remove bug guts. Another concern is the obstruction of windshields when the remains are smeared on the glass. All you need is a good glass cleaner to help wipe away those bug guts. You want a glass cleaner that’s streak-free to get rid of the smeared bug guts.

How do I protect my car? 

So, what’s the best way to prevent this from happening? For these pesky flies, and any other bug for that matter, it’s beneficial to use a bug barrier to help prevent bugs from sticking to your bumper, grill, hood, and mirrors. The acids from the dead insect’s body are left on your paint surface where they eat away and etch paint. When your car has been properly protected by a bug barrier, insect body acids are absorbed into the protective coating rather than your paint. A simple rinse with a hose and they’re gone for good! Have any crazy bug stories you want to share? Leave us a comment below!

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