Motorway Flies!
Discussion
I'm having to make a 2hr each way motorway journey a couple of times a week at the moment.
With the warm weather, the car is getting cover in splatted flies all over the windscreen, bonnet, grill and wing mirrors. They get really baked on liked dried Weetabix and are a right pain to remove.
I spent about 40 mins today trying to clean then off with limited success.
I then had another 2 hour trip home and it's covered again.
Anyone have any tips for a) avoiding them sticking to the screen/bodywork or b) how to remove the hundreds of sticky little dead fly deposits more efficiently?
With the warm weather, the car is getting cover in splatted flies all over the windscreen, bonnet, grill and wing mirrors. They get really baked on liked dried Weetabix and are a right pain to remove.
I spent about 40 mins today trying to clean then off with limited success.
I then had another 2 hour trip home and it's covered again.
Anyone have any tips for a) avoiding them sticking to the screen/bodywork or b) how to remove the hundreds of sticky little dead fly deposits more efficiently?
Soft 99 Glaco Ultra. It's like Rainex on steroids.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/SOFT99-Ultra-Glaco-Glass-...
It is reasonably easy to apply compared to most of these products and is long lasting. I get at least 6 months of it being effective. It makes fly splat removal much easier.
They have several coating products, but the Ultra lasts longer than anything else I've tried. The cleaning preparation product is amazing too, makes prep easy, and it's pointless trying to apply any of these coatings on an unprepped screen.
The cleaner is like a fine clay, so don't just rinse it off, it'll make a mess. Wipe most of it off with damp kitchen towel, rinse off the little bit that remains.
I clean them off as soon as I stop, a spray of window cleaner and a couple of bits of kitchen roll to remove most of them, followed by a microfibre I keep in a ziploc bag which is soaked in clean (de-ionised/ Spotless water) and wrung out, then a dry microfibre to buff off.
Sounds a faff but it's taken me longer to type that than to do it. 90 seconds and you'll have a clean screen.
For the rest of the car then some sort of ceramic coating will make removal easier. The Turtle Wax hybrid ceramics are good, long lasting and widely available.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/SOFT99-Ultra-Glaco-Glass-...
It is reasonably easy to apply compared to most of these products and is long lasting. I get at least 6 months of it being effective. It makes fly splat removal much easier.
They have several coating products, but the Ultra lasts longer than anything else I've tried. The cleaning preparation product is amazing too, makes prep easy, and it's pointless trying to apply any of these coatings on an unprepped screen.
The cleaner is like a fine clay, so don't just rinse it off, it'll make a mess. Wipe most of it off with damp kitchen towel, rinse off the little bit that remains.
I clean them off as soon as I stop, a spray of window cleaner and a couple of bits of kitchen roll to remove most of them, followed by a microfibre I keep in a ziploc bag which is soaked in clean (de-ionised/ Spotless water) and wrung out, then a dry microfibre to buff off.
Sounds a faff but it's taken me longer to type that than to do it. 90 seconds and you'll have a clean screen.
For the rest of the car then some sort of ceramic coating will make removal easier. The Turtle Wax hybrid ceramics are good, long lasting and widely available.
M11rph said:
Soft 99 Glaco Ultra. It's like Rainex on steroids.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/SOFT99-Ultra-Glaco-Glass-...
It is reasonably easy to apply compared to most of these products and is long lasting. I get at least 6 months of it being effective. It makes fly splat removal much easier.
They have several coating products, but the Ultra lasts longer than anything else I've tried. The cleaning preparation product is amazing too, makes prep easy, and it's pointless trying to apply any of these coatings on an unprepped screen.
The cleaner is like a fine clay, so don't just rinse it off, it'll make a mess. Wipe most of it off with damp kitchen towel, rinse off the little bit that remains.
I clean them off as soon as I stop, a spray of window cleaner and a couple of bits of kitchen roll to remove most of them, followed by a microfibre I keep in a ziploc bag which is soaked in clean (de-ionised/ Spotless water) and wrung out, then a dry microfibre to buff off.
Sounds a faff but it's taken me longer to type that than to do it. 90 seconds and you'll have a clean screen.
For the rest of the car then some sort of ceramic coating will make removal easier. The Turtle Wax hybrid ceramics are good, long lasting and widely available.
Thanks M11rph, sounds like exactly the sort of thing I'm after. I'll take a look https://www.amazon.co.uk/SOFT99-Ultra-Glaco-Glass-...
It is reasonably easy to apply compared to most of these products and is long lasting. I get at least 6 months of it being effective. It makes fly splat removal much easier.
They have several coating products, but the Ultra lasts longer than anything else I've tried. The cleaning preparation product is amazing too, makes prep easy, and it's pointless trying to apply any of these coatings on an unprepped screen.
The cleaner is like a fine clay, so don't just rinse it off, it'll make a mess. Wipe most of it off with damp kitchen towel, rinse off the little bit that remains.
I clean them off as soon as I stop, a spray of window cleaner and a couple of bits of kitchen roll to remove most of them, followed by a microfibre I keep in a ziploc bag which is soaked in clean (de-ionised/ Spotless water) and wrung out, then a dry microfibre to buff off.
Sounds a faff but it's taken me longer to type that than to do it. 90 seconds and you'll have a clean screen.
For the rest of the car then some sort of ceramic coating will make removal easier. The Turtle Wax hybrid ceramics are good, long lasting and widely available.
Richtea1970 said:
I'm having to make a 2hr each way motorway journey a couple of times a week at the moment.
With the warm weather, the car is getting cover in splatted flies all over the windscreen, bonnet, grill and wing mirrors. They get really baked on liked dried Weetabix and are a right pain to remove.
I spent about 40 mins today trying to clean then off with limited success.
I then had another 2 hour trip home and it's covered again.
Anyone have any tips for a) avoiding them sticking to the screen/bodywork or b) how to remove the hundreds of sticky little dead fly deposits more efficiently?
I know this isn't really the response you're after - but i welcomed the flies on my visor which arrived on Monday. The fauna of our atmosphere are not dead, after all. Long may it continue With the warm weather, the car is getting cover in splatted flies all over the windscreen, bonnet, grill and wing mirrors. They get really baked on liked dried Weetabix and are a right pain to remove.
I spent about 40 mins today trying to clean then off with limited success.
I then had another 2 hour trip home and it's covered again.
Anyone have any tips for a) avoiding them sticking to the screen/bodywork or b) how to remove the hundreds of sticky little dead fly deposits more efficiently?
Personally i've not had much luck with anything as a standalone product to easily remove bugs. Some cleaners you spray on before washing the car do seem to help, but by no means make it easy.
Best method I found is to just wash the car early in the morning when it is still damp from dew, as the bug remains go a bit softer overnight.
Best method I found is to just wash the car early in the morning when it is still damp from dew, as the bug remains go a bit softer overnight.
Indeed - a year or two ago there were posts on here lamenting the lack of bug splats (well the lack of bugs really) in this country. I recall the last long road trip I made in the states resulted in the death of one single bug - seems like the Americans have killed the majority of their flying insects.
MIXRA, used to be Holts brand, now Simoniz.
Spray over the screen let it work, agitate stubborn spots if reqd , use the washers to finish the job.
In my truck i keep two spray bottles, one with general purpose kitchen surface cleaner, again spray that on the screen let it soak for a while agitate if necessary, the other spray bottle contains clean water for rinsing off, leaving the vehicle washer bottle full for when needed.
Worth putting a few drops of detergent in the washer bottle too if you have no other products, the grease picked up off the roads and the innards of squashed bugs needs more than water or normal screenwash to shift.
Spray over the screen let it work, agitate stubborn spots if reqd , use the washers to finish the job.
In my truck i keep two spray bottles, one with general purpose kitchen surface cleaner, again spray that on the screen let it soak for a while agitate if necessary, the other spray bottle contains clean water for rinsing off, leaving the vehicle washer bottle full for when needed.
Worth putting a few drops of detergent in the washer bottle too if you have no other products, the grease picked up off the roads and the innards of squashed bugs needs more than water or normal screenwash to shift.
I drove across Wales last night and had to stop twice to clean the screen manually, such was the extent of the splatter (and irritating smearing the wipers/screen wash was creating).
I used some Meguiars bug remover, a “netted” sponge and a microfibre cloth. Spray on, let it sit for a minute or so, scrub with the sponge and wipe off the excess with a cloth.
Once the Meguiars stuff runs out (it’s quite expensive), I’ll keep a spray gun with some diluted all purpose cleaner (I have Bilt Hamber Surfex HD at home) in the boot for the same job.
I used some Meguiars bug remover, a “netted” sponge and a microfibre cloth. Spray on, let it sit for a minute or so, scrub with the sponge and wipe off the excess with a cloth.
Once the Meguiars stuff runs out (it’s quite expensive), I’ll keep a spray gun with some diluted all purpose cleaner (I have Bilt Hamber Surfex HD at home) in the boot for the same job.
Probably not what the serious detainers want to hear, but I have several old towels that I drape over the car then soak through with a hose. Leave it for 15 mins or so and take off. The towel absorbs a lot of the flies and soaks the remainder through so they come off more easily during the normal washing process.
It’s not perfect but it does get a lot of them off without too much hassle. Obviously nooks and crannies are a bit trickier, but I’ve always found a wet period of weather will remove those rather than messing about with earbuds and other stuff.
It’s not perfect but it does get a lot of them off without too much hassle. Obviously nooks and crannies are a bit trickier, but I’ve always found a wet period of weather will remove those rather than messing about with earbuds and other stuff.
phil4 said:
DanL said:
Halfords used to sell a sponge covered in plastic netting - I assume they still do. Works well for getting flies off the car.
This!I wax my cars fairly frequently with Collinite 476. Use a snow foam before washing and they wipe away easily.
Not a massive are cleaning nerd but a few good products make a chore into a easy job.
Stick Legs said:
phil4 said:
DanL said:
Halfords used to sell a sponge covered in plastic netting - I assume they still do. Works well for getting flies off the car.
This!I wax my cars fairly frequently with Collinite 476. Use a snow foam before washing and they wipe away easily.
Not a massive are cleaning nerd but a few good products make a chore into a easy job.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff