Dead Bugs - RainX or any sort of wax help?
 

Has anybody tried putting RainX on the front of their car to make it easier to remove dead bugs?

Or is there any sort of wax that would help - like maybe one of the hybrid ceramic waxes?

I do not have any evidence to back up my thoughts but one would imagine any sort of ceramic coating or ceramic infused wax application followed up with a quality spray wax at every wash or dusting would make insects easier to remove.

Rain-x definitely helps with cleaning bugs off the windshield. Can't speak to it on paint.

I'd assume the car waxes, etc. would help because they seal small pores.

You want to keep Rain X off of the paintwork and gaskets. It is designed for and works great on Glass

Also makes Ice/Frost removal much easier
https://clickpix.org/images/ZRklK1.webp

I regularly apply CarPro Reload to my car including the windshield which makes it shed water very easily with little to no wipers needed. Additionally I believe cleaning the windshield on road trips with a merlins elixir cocktail keeps it super clean and coated to help shed bugs and debris easily. It’s also great as a cleaner/quick detailer. You can buy it premade but I would suggest the separate products which are useful on their own and can be mixed to make your own. I regularly use this as a quick touch up on the whole car between washes if I have any bird bombs.

The BASIC formula:
use 50ml/1.7oz of Reload and 50ml/1.7oz of ECH2o in a CarPro 500ml Empty Spray Bottle and fill the rest with distilled water. (2 parts Reload, 1 part ECH2o)


https://www.carpro-us.com/quick-detail/carpro-elixir-quick-detailer-1000ml-34oz/

I have used RainX in the past and it’s pretty decent. But I much prefer the CarPro products as they are safe for all parts on the car so there is no worry about getting RainX on the paint. And if you over spray just use your towel to wipe and clean the spot and add protection at the same time.


CTopher

presoak. If you haven't yet, I would invest in a foam cannon. I use an electric low flow pressure washer to apply foam. Let sit a few minutes then rinse with the the pressure washer. This removes 90% of them and the ones that aren't gone are now rehydrated and come off with very low pressure rubbing during the wash process.

Any sealant or wax will help. Make sure you've properly clay barred (and corrected, as needed) the paint surface.

I've never had an issue with bugs sticking on any of my cars, even my Tesla which has no front grill and sits outside all year.

I don’t know how it will agree with paint, but we used to use Pledge on aircraft wing leading edges.

I’m in the car wash business, there’s a special rainx that’s for paint and windows. We use in Self serve bays as well as tunnel. It’s an amazing product. When you spray it on your paint and rinse off, you will see the water bead off like you hand waxed your vehicle. Rainx and ceramic seal, two most expensive chemical we use, $1000/ 30 gallons. Ceramic seal is fairly comparable. Ceramics is obviously the big craze now. Tim

aldente, if I'm reading your post correctly, you want to know of a product you can apply PRIOR to getting any bugs splattered on the front facing surfaces of your car so as to make it easier to remove said splattered bugs. If that's correct, then any/all of the above mentioned products should prove to be helpful.
When I take any of my cars on summer road trips through Eastern WA, I spray tire dressing, specifically 303 Aerospace on the front facing painted surfaces such as the bumper, front edge of hood, rear view mirrors. Makes it super easy to basically wipe off the bugs upon arrival with a Quick Detailer spray and doesn't take off any wax applied to the paint. For obvious reasons I don't apply it to the windscreen.
Windscreen gets a good cleaning with Adams Glass cleaner before the trip. Seems to help in the easy removal of bugs later, again with Adams Glass Cleaner. Stubborn or severely dried bug guts on the windscreen get 0000 steel wool.

Yes, prior to bug hits.

I saw the thing about Rain-X on some detailing web site.

So, special Rain-X vs. Aerospace 303 vs. a hybrid ceramic "wax" like Meguairs??

Look at some of the Griots spray wax products too... pure freaking magic, as they say.

I have read, but not tried, that fabric softener sheets that you put in your clothes drier remove bug splatter from cars.

I keep a good coat of Carnauba on my cars, even the chrome, and whenever I get back from a drive I take a quick look at the front. If I see bugs I usually get a wet micro-fiber and some detail spray and remove them before they really attach to the finish. Once they "dry" they are tough to remove.

Yep, the ceramic paint coatings work great. I drove 850 miles to Montgomery, AL from my house in Oklahoma City. In Mississippi I drove through a hard rain for 10 minutes. That scrubbed off all the bugs on my 911. When I pulled into my brother's house he asked if I had stopped to wash my car. It had very few bugs on the front of the car.

I have the entire ceramic coated. I love it.

might help tho I can't stand his voice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7IMzfTTx28

Glen, what ceramic coat product did you use?

A bunch of the local guys seem to really like gtechniq. I’m just starting to look into it so I don’t have an opinion.

I just drove the wife’s car back from Florida. The front bumper looked like I had driven through a swamp with fly paper.

I would sure hope it works, it's not cheap!

I haven't watched the whole video yet, but I have been using Meguiar's hybrid ceramic on the family cars for about a year. It does shed water amazingly well. There may be a marginal improvement in keeping stuff from sticking to the paint, but I think you'd be hard-pressed to quantify it. I do think the more you use the hybrid ceramic waxes, the easier it becomes to maintain. Note that the first application is more lengthy. I can do quick wash and wax in 20-30 minutes per car, and the results are as good as traditional wax methods with significantly less effort.

If you're the kind of person that obsesses over high-end waxes, I think you'd probably be better off sticking to your preferred wax. But this could be a great product to use in-between.

I like that as long as I have a regular cadence of quick washes, it is really easy to maintain. The alternative is spending a few hours a couple of times a year using the traditional wax on/wax off method.

The downside is that I go through the stuff much faster than good old-fashioned paste or liquid waxes. I personally think that's why you see the emphasis on these kinds of products now -- it's more recurring revenue.

I ended up paying a pro do apply the ceramic coating. He uses a Br. Beasly product. I liked it so much I had him apply it to my 1986 El Camino and my wife's 2017 Macan. It made a big difference on the old paint of the Elky.