Stop Bugging Me
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clipart stopwatch; Quick Tips & Tricks
Stop Bugging Me
man using spray and a cloth to clean dead bugs off a truck
Collecting squashed bugs on the front of any tow vehicle/RV is inevitable — and subsequent cleaning is not fun. Here’s how we learned to wipe away bug remnants with almost no effort
By Bob Livingston
I

f you’re an entomologist, you love bugs. If you’re an RVer, not so much. For RVers, the bug collection can be found on the windshield, grilles and the front of their rigs — and they make a mess. Once bugs have dried on these surfaces, removing them can be pretty difficult.

Over the years I have used several commercial bug cleaners; some work and some don’t. Recently, I ran out of cleaner — and the bug remains stacked up. Since I hate to see bugs on my tow vehicle and fifth wheel, I experimented with a few products I already had in my storage compartment — and discovered that, together, they worked amazingly well.

I’ve professed the value of washing vehicles with Optimum No Rinse Wash and Wax ($43.99 for a gallon container on Amazon) for years; it’s my go-to product for washing vehicles without running water. Washing with No Rinse removed some of the bugs — especially if the surface could be saturated with the solution and allowed to stand — but hot weather can dry the washing solution too quickly. Figuring the No Rinse has good cleaning properties, I mixed some with water in a spray bottle and used it as a standalone bug remover. And, rather than rely only on a microfiber towel to scrub the bugs off, I enlisted an old standby, The Boss Love Bug Eraser (3-pack on Amazon for $8.50), to help break down the dried-on bugs. The combination made short, almost effortless, work of removing bugs — especially around the truck grille, which has lots of places for bug bodies to collect.

While just about any spray bottle found online and at home-improvement stores will suffice, I also moved the bar up substantially by purchasing a Solo 418 One Hand Pressure Sprayer from Amazon ($27.99). It’s a lot more expensive than common spray bottles, but it’s much more durable and certainly easier to use — especially for RVers with arthritic hands. It holds one liter of solution (around 34 ounces) and after pumping up the pressure, it distributes an atomized spray pattern by simply pressing a lever.

Adding the right amount of No Rinse concentrate to the liter of water took a little math. Washing vehicles requires only an ounce of concentrate for two gallons of water, so the amount used in the 1-liter bottle was small. I normally use two ounces of concentrate when washing vehicles, which works better, so I splurged and added ½ ounce of No Rinse in the Solo sprayer. It turned out to be a winning formula.

The Love Bug Eraser is designed to only use soap and water — and doing so produces excellent results — but spraying the bug-covered surface first via the Solo bottle allowed the wet-with-water Love Bug Eraser to glide smoothly over the surface effortlessly and remove the bugs. A microfiber towel was used to dry and buff the surface. The Love Bug Eraser is safe for painted surfaces, chrome, glass and plastic; just don’t bear down on the pad on painted surfaces and keep it moist.

Sometimes experimentation disappoints. In this case, the stars were aligned.

The Solo cannister was filled with one liter of water before adding about 1/2-ounce of No Rinse concentrate. Just do the math to determine how much concentrate to add, depending on the spray bottle size. No Rinse is powerful stuff, so you’ll only be adding a small amount of concentrate.
The Solo cannister was filled with one liter of water before adding about 1/2-ounce of No Rinse concentrate. Just do the math to determine how much concentrate to add, depending on the spray bottle size. No Rinse is powerful stuff, so you’ll only be adding a small amount of concentrate.
The Solo cannister was filled with one liter of water before adding about 1/2-ounce of No Rinse concentrate. Just do the math to determine how much concentrate to add, depending on the spray bottle size. No Rinse is powerful stuff, so you’ll only be adding a small amount of concentrate.
Pushing and pulling the plunger in the lid of the Solo sprayer pressurizes the cannister. It only takes a few pumps to provide enough pressure to cover quite a bit of area. When done, release the pressure (slowly unscrew the lid) before storing it.
Pushing and pulling the plunger in the lid of the Solo sprayer pressurizes the cannister. It only takes a few pumps to provide enough pressure to cover quite a bit of area. When done, release the pressure (slowly unscrew the lid) before storing it.
The Boss Love Bug Eraser is an indispensable pad for cleaning bugs off the front of a tow vehicle or RV. It does a great job with just soap and water but is even better when gliding through the spayed-on solution of No Rinse and water. It’s safe for painted/gel coated surfaces, plastic, glass and chrome, but it’s best not to bear down when using the pad.
The Boss Love Bug Eraser is an indispensable pad for cleaning bugs off the front of a tow vehicle or RV. It does a great job with just soap and water but is even better when gliding through the spayed-on solution of No Rinse and water. It’s safe for painted/gel coated surfaces, plastic, glass and chrome, but it’s best not to bear down when using the pad.
Once the bugs are cleared away, use a microfiber towel to dry and polish the area. The No Rinse solution leaves a thin coating of “wax” which helps any surface shine.
Once the bugs are cleared away, use a microfiber towel to dry and polish the area. The No Rinse solution leaves a thin coating of “wax” which helps any surface shine.
As a bonus, the mixture of No Rinse and water can be used as a quick detailer for removing a light coating of dust/dirt off the RV and tow vehicle.
As a bonus, the mixture of No Rinse and water can be used as a quick detailer for removing a light coating of dust/dirt off the RV and tow vehicle.
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