Mineral Shite - the fly problem...

[DJMC]

I had thought of adding some insect repellant to the AG Aquawax I use to finish after a wash, but the spray can says "do not apply to paint" so haven't taken that any further.

So what have you found to help stop the tiny fly poops which appear all over your white (Mineral or other) paintwork?

Surely this is a sufficiently widespread issue for one of the automotive protection product manufacturers to have found a solution (sic) by now?

[Toltec]

It drops out of trees so not parking under trees helps.

[DJMC]

Toltec said:

It drops out of trees so not parking under trees helps.

I'm talking about the tiny black spots, smaller than a full stop, which flies leave behind them. They are particularly attracted to white for whatever reason. It's a well discussed problem but I don't see a solution. Adding an insect repellant to a wax seems to be the obvious one.

[anonymous-user]

DJMC said:

I'm talking about the tiny black spots, smaller than a full stop, which flies leave behind them. They are particularly attracted to white for whatever reason. It's a well discussed problem but I don't see a solution. Adding an insect repellant to a wax seems to be the obvious one.

Repellents like DEET are thought to work on biting insects by blocking receptors for CO2 (and other volatile substances that we release) making us harder to find, and put them off due to "taste' if they do land on us and bite. They don't repel all insects and would be useless on a parked car. It is the bulk that attracts horse flies etc - particularly darker colours, albeit their deposits are more visible on white.

[DJMC]

Discombobulate said:

Repellents like DEET are thought to work on biting insects by blocking receptors for CO2 (and other volatile substances that we release) making us harder to find, and put them off due to "taste' if they do land on us and bite. They don't repel all insects and would be useless on a parked car. It is the bulk that attracts horse flies etc - particularly darker colours, albeit their deposits are more visible on white.

DEET will take your paint off! I discovered this after a few Googles.

There's: http://www.bugspraycart.com/?s=nbs

The US manufacturer replied to my suggestion of adding it to AG AquaWax thus:

"You might be able to try mixing it with the wax (the link you sent below). I inquired with the manufacturer and here is their response:

'Maybe…? He could try a small area. Hard to say how much to add. VERY little though. Addition of NBS 30 could “flatten” the sheen slightly.'

In the past we've had people use Bugslide for cars and boats as this will prevent it (poo) from sticking. I would think your wax would do the same but maybe not for some reason? I do know Bugslide will stop any dropping from sticking and also seems to keep pests from landing on the treated car too."

I'll se if I can get a sample and run some tests...