Top Ten Bug Cleaners Tested

Dead insects are the scourge of summer driving, making a mess of your car’s bodywork and bumpers. We pick from 10 of the best bug cleaners.

Auto Express Car Reviews

July 2009

Do insects bug you at this time of year? Splattered all over your bonnet, grille and screen, they can be a pain to remove with only a sponge and soap, especially if they have been allowed to bake on during a continental driving holiday.

The solution is a bug shifter, which can soften the dead insects and release their grip on your paintwork, allowing them to be easily wiped or rinsed off. Using a specialist cleaner also means there is less chance of damaging your paintwork through hard scrubbing to shift the tougher marks.

Bug cleaners are relatively new to valeting and makers have yet to settle on the best way to tackle pests, so there is a wide range of solutions. Which is the one to blitz the bugs? We tried 10 top sellers to find out.

The Test
We used a car that hadn’t been cleaned during months of summer driving, as its bumper was splattered with bugs.

The cleaners were applied twice, and we used them sparingly and kept wiping to a minimum to really test them.

The results were rated after each attempt.

Products that worked on all surfaces scored points.

As overspray can be an issue, we let each dry and looked at how hard they were to remove.

Price was our final consideration.

Contacts

* Simoniz 0161 491 7391 www.simoniz.co.uk
* Gunk 0870 444 6640 www.gunk.eu.com
* Big Wipes 01628 894374 www.bigwipes.com
* CarPlan 0161 764 5981 www.tetrosyl.com
* Naturals 0870 320 0244 www.carekits.co.uk
* Turtle Wax 01695 716610 www.turtlewaxeurope.com
* Autoglym 01462 677766 www.autoglym.com
* Greased Lightning 01792 772233 www.greasedlightning.co.uk
* Sonax 01798 344888 www.sonax.com

Verdict

Our top two take a different approach to shifting dead insects, but they were difficult to separate as both left our bumper with a spotless finish.

The honours go to Simoniz’s Bug Shifter, as the big trigger pack represents better value for money.

Reigning champion Gunk has to settle for second this time round, but it’s still a great grime buster, and also the product to go for if you want a tar remover. In third is Turtle Wax with its effective Bug & Tar Remover, which waxes as it cleans.

1 Simoniz Bug Shifter
2 Gunk Tar n Bug Remover
3 Turtle Wax Bug & Tar Remover