Hopper

Hello all, Well, glad to see that the snow in Illinois is gone, but we are slowly moving to summer and bug season. How does everyone deal with them day to day. Two weeks ago we had a 70 degree day and I noticed that even going down a section of road I had bugs all over the bumper. When I got home, I used a little ONR to quickly detail the affected areas (Bumper, Windshield etc). - How does everyone else handle bugs in the summer? - We travel to a summer home, needless to say the car is covered in bugs going there and coming back home. Thoughts on how to handle this situation efficiently? - If I use something like the Poor Boys Bug and Squash Remover, does that remove wax and therefore require more waxing? I was thinking about leaving a small bottle of ONR and some MF towels at the summer home and then just repeating what I did last week. Products and or tips appreciated! Hopper

Since I have it on hand in the medicine cabinent, I tried a little IPA (ie rubbing alcohol), diluted it 50:50 ratio and tried it on my rims. Seemed to do a good job. I haven't made it to the hardware store yet to get the goo gone, but I'll post an update later this weekend after I wash the car. I wanted to at least get the rims cleaned up so I could put on the poor boys wheel sealant (before I eat it all straight out of the jar -- it smells like candy).

Thanks Canuck! Appreciate all the advice on everything. Going to tackle it this weekend once I wash the car up.

Thanks so much. I think I'm in a similar boat regarding the tires.....that glue is in several spots on each tire (ugh).... What is Varsol.....can I pick that up at a home depot or lowes?

Any advice?

Second Q of the day....how does everyone wash their towels and mitts etc? My neighbor actually takes his to a local laundromat, his better half doesn't want those chemicals in their washer/dryer? I'm not sure I want to spend an hour and half washing towels, any recs? Do people toss out old towels used for detailing spray etc? I was debating washing them in a bucket once prior to washing them in the washer dryer...thoughts? Advice? H

First, I received my shipment in the mail last week from Detailed Image, ONR some Poor Boys Products (S&W 0 Wheel Sealant, Gel) etc. Thanks to all for the advice. Have a new 2011 Ford Explorer for a few weeks now. I waited til the blizzard passed this week to finally try out the products. Two bucket wash with ONR after hitting a local touchless wash to get all the crud off. Worked great, the car looked like I just received it from the dealer. Only problem was I found several spots where there was a sticky residue (one on the hood and one larger spot near the gas tank) on the car. I assume this was from the plastic wrapping that the car was in during shipment. It was also all various spots on my rims, so while I washed my rims I didn't seal them yet. Again, overall the car turned out totally amazing, I was super pleased. So, I assume I need to use a clay bar to get that off, correct? Or should I use an adhesive remover (Goo Gone, 3M Adhesive Remover) Any advice? I've read the tutorials from Canuck and on the Detailed Image site regarding claying, but they don't address more sticky residue situations..should I treat this like tar and use some type of solvent? 1. If I use clay, do I need to clay the entire panel, or can I just clay the effected certain areas ? 2. After claying, can I just spot wax? I'm not sure I have the time or the skill to wax the entire car (yet). 3. Ditto for the rims, can I just clay the tacky areas or do I need to do the entire rim? 4. If I clay the wheels, should I just use the PB Wheel Sealant afterwards? 5. Is clay the only approach, anything else that I should use instead like a solvent? I read elsewhere that people recommend everything from Goo Gone, Rubbing Alcohol, WD40 to Tar Remover to 3M Adhesive removal. I'm confused on this one, obviously not interested in marring the paint or clear coat.......should I take it back to the dealer? Thanks for the advice. H

Hey Guys, Been following a lot of advice on the site for winter cleanup/detailing. I'm waiting for my shipment of ONR from DI and some other Poorboys products as well. I live in the midwest so needless to say the last 2 weeks have not been great for car washing (sub zero temps). We have a good local no-touch car wash w/ undercarriage that I've been using to keep the car clean of salt etc. I use the basic wash (pre-soak/wash/rinse) and then immediately wipe the car down lightly, go home and wipe it down again. One of my buds has a product called Final Lustre (detailing spray). Can anyone recommend this product? Is this similar to the Poorboy's World Spray and Gloss? Any other type similar product that people would recommend? Thanks for your help! H

Great! Thanks. I figured just treating them like regular paint (with separate mits / towels) would be the best bet. I saw in another post that the group recommended a sealant like Poor Boys Wheel Sealant...would this be a good product to apply ever couple of weeks etc?

Hello All, I'm actually a 2011 Explorer owner that has been lurking on this site for some time. Was looking at the Edge, and came over from the Ford Sync sister site. I've learned a ton about the right products to detail cars etc from everyone over here, so I thought I would ask about cleaning my wheels, specifically polished aluminum wheels (from Ford). When clean, they really sparkle, I love them, but haven't really figured out the best way to clean them. I'm assuming that since they are factory provided, they most likely have some sort clear coat on them -- is that a safe assumption? Should I just clean them as I would the paint or do you recommend a certain product? I have some Meguirs Hot Rims Aluminum Wheel cleaner that I've used for my other car, is it safe to assume this is ok for my explorer's rims? "Hot Rims® Aluminum Wheel Cleaner is the ultra-safe solution for cleaning uncoated aluminum. The specially designed formula is guaranteed safe for uncoated and polished aluminum wheels as well as anodized and powder-coated wheel surfaces – it’s even safe on all brake components. Our unique formula features Xtreme Cling™ foam technology that grabs vertical surfaces to deliver effective cleaning and gently remove brake dust and grime." I read somewhere that the product is fairly pH neutral, so is it safe to assume that this won't stain the rims? Thoughts? Other products etc? Thanks!