Steel Wool

Steel Wool and a lot of elbow grease !
If you don't want to use the elbow grease, I've found that an angle grinder will do the trick just as well.
 
rehydration

The best thing to do is wipe them down right after every flight.

One trick I've tried is to simply hose them down and let the water re-hydrate them a bit before using any other method. It cuts down the adhesion.
 
Pledge furniture polish

It helps to have a coat of Reject or Turtle wax on the leading edge before the Pledge trick
 
Water and three minutes

My three step-process:

1. Spray the bug-covered leading edges with water from a spray bottle.
2. Wait three minutes.
3. Wipe off with a soft paper towel.

As JHines said above, you've gotta do it right after the flight. Otherwise they are much harder to remove with water alone.

In case you wait too long, "Formula 409 Automotive" (not regular Formula 409) is pretty good stuff.
 
Use reject before.

Then after each flight I spray on a little water over all the bugs. By then time I get that done and return to my starting point I use a little "simple green for aircraft" and a clean rag and start rubbing. Doesn't take to much effort unless you haven't done it for awhile. :D

Kent
 
I use Glass Plus trigger spray cleaner.

Timing is important - right away vs the next day.

I think bugs have two component epoxies in them, part A in their head and part B in their rear end. Cures up in about one day.

I agree with Kent also regarding a wax - but, the product is spelled Rejex in case anyone is searching. Best wax-like stuff I've ever found.
 
Water...

and a terry cloth towel.
#1 Rule: "Never let a bug spend the night on your airplane."
 
Turtle Wax F21 thinned with water

I thin Turtle Wax F21 wax with water and put it in a generic spray bottle. Gets the bugs off and rewaxes the leading edge in one step.

Works well, but is still a pain if you let them "cure" as Alex says........
 
Extreem Simple Green

The Simple Green Aircraft and Precision Cleaner, period. Mentioned above by Kent, let me re-state it this stuff works so good it will probably be illegal soon! I use it on my motorcycle also. Nothing I have ever used takes off bugs, grease, and general swarf as well. I got some in one of the crew promotions at Reno a couple of years ago and the stuff is just super. Use just a little water with it. I even e-mailed simple green because the stuff worked so well.

This was the response which is great since you can buy the stuff at HD now.

Dear William,

Thank you for contacting Simple Green and for your interest in Extreme Simple Green!

Great news!!! Extreme Simple Green has been re-labeled and is now available on the retail market through Home Depot. The package is a 32 oz blue trigger spray bottle and the name is Extreme Simple Green Precision Degreaser. You will be able to identify that it is the same product by the Boeing spec at the bottom of the label.

If you are looking for larger containers of Extreme Simple Green you can purchase it through Aircraft Spruce, RS Hughes or Grainger. All three have websites and ship nationally.

I hope that this information is helpful to you. If you have further questions about this or other Simple Green products or uses, please feel free to contact me directly. My contact information is provided below and my regular business hours are Mon thru Fri from 8 – 5 Pacific Standard Time.

Thank you again for your inquiry.
Sincerely,

Theresa Provolt
Technical and Customer Liaison
Simple Green

Hats off to Simple Green for making a superior product! I also like the fact that all the Simple Green products are environmentally friendly. The large spray bottle I got at Home Depot cost a bit over 5 bucks and will last me about a year. Get you some! (I don't work for them either, and I PAID for the new bottle)
Bill Jepson
 
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Industrial glue - Part A and Part B

I agree with the bit about 2 part epoxy.

Down South we have "Love bug" season. Yanks don't know about 'em unless they come down to visit in the spring.

I'll have to try going "Green". I might even do a test on the front of my wife's car. Solid white and it shows results/failures and its summertime. Best stuff I've used so far is hand degreaser so it makes sense that the product would work.

Anyone wiliing to do a comparative study? Take several products, pick out a 1 foot area. Apply and do a circular rub 10 times with same pressure, rinse and shoot a picture of the areas.
 
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You guys may or may not believe this.....

But try a dryer sheet. Get the bugs wet and rub lightly and they come right off.

At least off the motor home.

Steve
 
BuckWynd said:
My three step-process:

1. Spray the bug-covered leading edges with water from a spray bottle.
2. Wait three minutes.
3. Wipe off with a soft paper towel.

As JHines said above, you've gotta do it right after the flight. Otherwise they are much harder to remove with water alone.

In case you wait too long, "Formula 409 Automotive" (not regular Formula 409) is pretty good stuff.
Click to expand...

Shoot, in 30 seconds any water sprayed on down here is gone, much less 3 minutes:D
 
believe it, window cleaner, you know windex type. I go to the dollar store and buy the cheapest. I have two spray bottles in the hangar. I have one, the wife uses the other. We go over the whole airplane, another way of checking out the airplane. You say the wife, yup, she finds things real good that are wrong or potentually so. On the bugs, we spray it on the whole airplane, then we go back to where we sprayed first, by then the bugs come right off. The rag we use are the white terry cloths, from Costco.
 
As Kent said, Rejex is the Answer

After trying just about everything somebody told me about Rejex which replaces whatever wax you are using. The stuff is a miracle and bugs just easily wipe off. True Value sells it.
 
allbee said:
believe it, window cleaner, you know windex type. I go to the dollar store and buy the cheapest. I have two spray bottles in the hangar. I have one, the wife uses the other. We go over the whole airplane, another way of checking out the airplane. You say the wife, yup, she finds things real good that are wrong or potentually so. On the bugs, we spray it on the whole airplane, then we go back to where we sprayed first, by then the bugs come right off. The rag we use are the white terry cloths, from Costco.
Click to expand...

A little caution here - ammonia is commonly found in window cleaners and should be avoided. For whatever reason, Glass Plus doesn't have any (but probably has some other airplane eating chemical...).
 
Rejex

Here here on the support for Rejex! (There's a joke in there somewhere.:D) One application is good for nearly 6 months, letting you spray bugs off with water much of the time, and requiring little to no scrubbing action all the time. They'll have it in significant quantities at OSH if you want to pick it up there. I use the stuff on all three of our cars ... makes water bead better than most waxes I've ever seen.
 
Cheapo spray wax (or Lemon Pledge)

I used Lemon Pledge for years (which works great), but then it finally dawned on me that el-cheapo spray-on car wax would work just as well for half the price. Actually it works better. The key is to keep wax on the leading edge so the bugs can't stick to it.
 
Getting Bugs OFF

Reading whats posted tells me folks will use any thing that is handy. Paint is soft so never use any thing hard! Just use warm soapy water. Let it soak the bugs for a few minutes. Mean while you can talk to your neighbor. If the water and soap didn't dry you can wipe clean with a soft cloth. If the water dried start over and do it again.
 
Summary

Notice the similarity between the threads. Almost all answers are variations of the same theme.

Personally I keep the surface waxed and use a wet dryer sheet when they are bad and won't wash off with just plain old soap and water. Especially during the love bug season down here.

To summarize others:
- Make sure that you have a good base coat of wax. Hard to stick to a slick surface.
- Don't let the bugs bake on the surface - ie: don't put it off
- Wax is a good remover since it leaves a wax coat behind
- Nothing wrong with soap and water but some type of surfactant produces best results
- We all know that ammonia products are to be avoided - Unless you want to strip your wax off
- Of course - nothing abrasive

As far as what products others have used, keep this in mind. If you use wax each time to clean, I highly suggest you make sure it doesn't contain abrasives in it. Most waxes do and that is why they clean and wax. Notice that there are some car polishes that state they don't have any abrasives in it such as Nu-Finish.

Dryer sheets work well since they have a synthetic cloth that provide something to scrub with such as one of those tuffy pads you wash dishes with but are not a coarse as those and the fabric softener helps to release the bugs.

Do not use a detergent based cleaner such as dish soap. Use one of those more expensive cleaners like the sell for cars. Dish soap will remove the wax off of your car/plane much faster than cleaners designed for washing vehicles.

I am going to check out Rejex. Will put on 1/2 of the front end of my car and the other 1/2 will be just wax. I'll report back in a few weeks.
Since it's "summa time" down south, there's plenty of flying critters to test it out. Since I'm anal about keep my car clean, this should be an easy test comparison.

Anybody else out there what to do a side by side test of different products?
 
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