Dear T-heads: Our (mostly) beloved Teslas have absolutely extraordinary susceptibility to, and visibility of, bug splat.
***I've never seen any evidence that ANY bug removing method is any better than soap and water soak, followed by scrubbing with more soap and water.
***"Dryer Towel Method" is widely promoted. Has anyone done an honest comparison to soap and water?
So, to summarize: I would like to invite people to post *comparisons* to soap and water (including 3 minute pre-soak) for cleaning difficult bug splat that is at least a couple days old. Please, please, do the comparison -that's key (see below). Certainly, comments on the choice of wax, ceramic coating, ceramic on top of PPF, as we all do are welcomed, but please, not without a product comparison. ("________ coating makes removing bug splat a breeze..." has been written up a million times already, and thanks but that just isn't useful as many with that comment don't work better than soap and water.)
Details:
This all started with my discovery, on the infamous LA to SF run - infamous in terms of bug splat- that OMG, how disgusting, Teslas really get and show the bug splatters. Someone elsewhere posted the thought that our bumpers seem to push air around to the sides, instead of up and over, but with a large profile to the wind, so that you really get and see a lot of dead bugs. (Other people claim on other cars you get same, but you don't see them as they are on the radiator. Sounds plausible, but only for e.g. trucks with big flat first surfaces.) People have posted wonderful stuff here on methods of bug splat removal. If you search on "Dryer towel method", or "cutting torch", as in "[this bug splat] defies all manner of solutions, bug tar, ammonia, polishing compound, everything short of a cutting torch" (subject line was "indelible bug splat"). On you tube there are wonderful comparisons of various products, so I went and picked one, Sonax insect remover, and ... easy bugs came off easy, and difficult ones just didn't come off. Next, I started to read Amazon reviews carefully. Buried in just about every one is a "product didn't do any better than soap & water [same pre-soak, wash and scrub]".
Re: "Get them immediately": Most people advise that if you clean them immediately, they come off much easier. On my last LA to SF run I tried to sponge them off with a towel and glass cleaner at each SC stop. That just didn't work. Too many, and they didn't come off. Maybe a full-blown wash with gallons of water would have worked, but not easy at SC stops.
OK, so I have seen no direct comparisons to Soap & Water for Dryer sheets, or ammonia. People who have recommended their favorite cleaners, I don't believe they have made honest, objective comparisons to soap and water - at least not for difficult-to-remove splatters (as I said above, easy ones come off easy, difficult ones just don't come off.) I have heard it repeated often that citrol will remove almost anything, but damages wax and other coatings. Has anyone tried this on PPF, ceramic, ceramic over PPF?
I hope to fill up a chart like this:
Method Wipe/Scrub time to remove worst bug soap/Water scrub time Coating Comment
------- -------------------------------------- ---------------------- -------- ----------------------------------------------
Sonax Semi-infinite (worst never removed) gave up after 5 min PPF easy bugs easy; difficult bugs never removed
If we all give up on the bug removers, and just use soap, we will save money and chemical waste and shipping energy. That's motivating this comparison. The highly touted "3D bug remover" (claims special enzyme formula) and amazon's choice Chemical Guys both had reviews saying, "Not actually better than soap & Water". Again, in my experience, to be fair, chemical bug removers make removing the easy splats easy, but don't work on the difficult ones.
I note that difficult bug splats may have come off the untreated windshield easier than on my PPF (with no addl coatings). I wonder if the soft PPF surface allows them to embed?
Finally,
DEAR ELON and C-Suite: Please have someone work on bumper redesign for bug-splat susceptibility. Please have a mini-wash bar at SC stops; this is truly a safety issue SF-LA, as the windshields are so badly covered with bug splat it affects visibility. (Oh yeah, and air compressors at SC stops as well please.) (Can someone please tweet this, I don't do tweets.)
Thanks to all and I hope this is helpful,
TPC
***I've never seen any evidence that ANY bug removing method is any better than soap and water soak, followed by scrubbing with more soap and water.
***"Dryer Towel Method" is widely promoted. Has anyone done an honest comparison to soap and water?
So, to summarize: I would like to invite people to post *comparisons* to soap and water (including 3 minute pre-soak) for cleaning difficult bug splat that is at least a couple days old. Please, please, do the comparison -that's key (see below). Certainly, comments on the choice of wax, ceramic coating, ceramic on top of PPF, as we all do are welcomed, but please, not without a product comparison. ("________ coating makes removing bug splat a breeze..." has been written up a million times already, and thanks but that just isn't useful as many with that comment don't work better than soap and water.)
Details:
This all started with my discovery, on the infamous LA to SF run - infamous in terms of bug splat- that OMG, how disgusting, Teslas really get and show the bug splatters. Someone elsewhere posted the thought that our bumpers seem to push air around to the sides, instead of up and over, but with a large profile to the wind, so that you really get and see a lot of dead bugs. (Other people claim on other cars you get same, but you don't see them as they are on the radiator. Sounds plausible, but only for e.g. trucks with big flat first surfaces.) People have posted wonderful stuff here on methods of bug splat removal. If you search on "Dryer towel method", or "cutting torch", as in "[this bug splat] defies all manner of solutions, bug tar, ammonia, polishing compound, everything short of a cutting torch" (subject line was "indelible bug splat"). On you tube there are wonderful comparisons of various products, so I went and picked one, Sonax insect remover, and ... easy bugs came off easy, and difficult ones just didn't come off. Next, I started to read Amazon reviews carefully. Buried in just about every one is a "product didn't do any better than soap & water [same pre-soak, wash and scrub]".
Re: "Get them immediately": Most people advise that if you clean them immediately, they come off much easier. On my last LA to SF run I tried to sponge them off with a towel and glass cleaner at each SC stop. That just didn't work. Too many, and they didn't come off. Maybe a full-blown wash with gallons of water would have worked, but not easy at SC stops.
OK, so I have seen no direct comparisons to Soap & Water for Dryer sheets, or ammonia. People who have recommended their favorite cleaners, I don't believe they have made honest, objective comparisons to soap and water - at least not for difficult-to-remove splatters (as I said above, easy ones come off easy, difficult ones just don't come off.) I have heard it repeated often that citrol will remove almost anything, but damages wax and other coatings. Has anyone tried this on PPF, ceramic, ceramic over PPF?
I hope to fill up a chart like this:
Method Wipe/Scrub time to remove worst bug soap/Water scrub time Coating Comment
------- -------------------------------------- ---------------------- -------- ----------------------------------------------
Sonax Semi-infinite (worst never removed) gave up after 5 min PPF easy bugs easy; difficult bugs never removed
If we all give up on the bug removers, and just use soap, we will save money and chemical waste and shipping energy. That's motivating this comparison. The highly touted "3D bug remover" (claims special enzyme formula) and amazon's choice Chemical Guys both had reviews saying, "Not actually better than soap & Water". Again, in my experience, to be fair, chemical bug removers make removing the easy splats easy, but don't work on the difficult ones.
I note that difficult bug splats may have come off the untreated windshield easier than on my PPF (with no addl coatings). I wonder if the soft PPF surface allows them to embed?
Finally,
DEAR ELON and C-Suite: Please have someone work on bumper redesign for bug-splat susceptibility. Please have a mini-wash bar at SC stops; this is truly a safety issue SF-LA, as the windshields are so badly covered with bug splat it affects visibility. (Oh yeah, and air compressors at SC stops as well please.) (Can someone please tweet this, I don't do tweets.)
Thanks to all and I hope this is helpful,
TPC
