Whose Talking
Bug Remover Staining Paint
We run a EE and we have had alot of trouble getting bugs off the front of the car. We use high pressure prepping with a small amount of presoak(1:600 our entrance soap is a foamy presoak) to wash the cars before entering the tunnel. We decided to purchase some bug remover chemical from Simoniz and we hooked it up to air coil hose with a foaming nozzle( it just comes out as pure white lather). The recommended dilution was 1:1-7 but we didn't want to be using alot of it so we decided that we would start off much lower and see how effective it was, we used 1:25. Today we had a brand new ford 500 come through and had some bugs in the front so we sprayed the front bumper and when it got to the other end the areas that we sprayed were basically stained. We sent it through again with no luck. I would describe the staining as being equivalent to spraying an engine degreaser onto the car paint.
The product is called Bug Off
Should we apply it with a nozzle that doesn't foam?
Replies
Anytime you use bug remover be careful not to apply it to a hot surface. The staining you saw was most likely from stripping the wax off, if you apply a coat of wax you can restore the shine. Red cars are most likely to have this problem.
For that reason (and others) we have a bucket of water with some scrub brushes and let customers scrub themselves. We only put water in the bucket, and we let customers know before they enter the tunnel that the only way to get the bugs off is to scrub it first. That way they have realistic expectations, and we don't rewash them if they didn't scrub.
Scott and Andrew are right.
But the 500 has clearcoat paint..it takes a very strong chemical to flash dry and stain clearcoats. Was it the painted grill that stained? Grill finishes are of reduced quality and stain easily.
In contrast to Andrew, we will rewash even if they don't prep...any reason..any time...no hassles. We pull off our presoak mixing tank for the product in our buckets. No hand mixing by employees...that will get you into trouble every time. If my wash was $5 or more...I'd be prepping for the customer but until then, it's their job.
Foam applications will flash dry and streak easier than wetter applications.
I see so we should first spray down the effected area with water and then apply. Foam also dries quicker so less foam is preferable.
We also have hog hair scrubber, we only use them for the back of SUV's and Trucks and we use buckets of soap, is that what you are giving to the customers to scrub with.
As for the 500 the grill was ok but the actually paint was what was defected you could see that overspray stains on the hood. The customer luckily was one of the employees father's he didn't seemed to stressed and his son also works in a body shop so they will probably end up cutting down the clear coat in the effected area.


John Dec