The Risks of Household Bug and Tar Removers

Your car’s finish adds more to its value than anything else. You can easily add or subtract $500 from your car’s worth depending on how you clean and maintain it. A shining finish free from streaks, bugs, or scratches also boosts your claim to the crème de la crème.

Out of ignorance, there are many who use household cleaning products on their cars with devastating results. This post will outline them so that you can see why you need to buy and use only the best tar remover for cars.

1. WD-40

One of the most common solutions people use to remove tar from their vehicles is WD40. The lubricant helps to remove sticky tar from the most affected areas such as the wheel rims and the bumper. You just need to spray the affected area with the lubricant, wait for 10 to 20 minutes depending on the size of the tar spots and then wipe everything off with a piece of cloth.

WD-40 has a ton of uses and cleaning grease and grime is one of them. But WD-40 will not polish your car’s clear coat to reveal a shiny finish. Only a special purpose tar remover such as Chemical Guys CWS_104_16 Bug & Tar Heavy Duty Car Wash Shampoo or Turtle Wax T520A Bug & Tar Remover will wash and polish your vehicle’s finish.

WD-40 Multi-Use Product with SMART STRAW, Sprays in 2 ways.

WD-40 Multi-Use Product with SMART STRAW SPRAYS 2 WAYS

2. Kerosene/ Gasoline

Some people say that rubbing kerosene or gasoline on your car will remove sticky bugs and tar. That you just need to wet a towel with the petroleum product and rub your target area. There could be nothing more destructive than this.

I find two problems with this method. One is the cleaning process. You have to rub a wet towel and this will definitely leave streaks and scratches on the auto finish. Secondly, once you remove the tar, you have to wash the surface with soapy water, which is not good for your car paint. The best tar remover for car paint will wash off the bugs, tar, and grime and polish the auto paint without any harm.

3. Soaps and detergents

When no other cleaner is available and you are in a hurry, anyone would be tempted to clean the car using the kitchen detergent. Such a detergent may raise the surface pH which will eventually wear off the car paint. And you can’t avoid ugly swirls on the vehicle’s finish when you use soap or detergent.

4. Cloths and brushes

Don’t expect your car’s finish to remain in tip-top condition anymore when you use a brush to scrub the bug and tar stains. Same case when you use an old t-shirt as a rug for washing your car’s exterior surface. Swirls and scratches will be the inevitable result.

A microfiber towel meant for car surface cleaning will gently wipe the dirt leaving a smooth and sparkling clean shine. A good choice is Turtle Wax 50750 Microfiber Towels, a pack of 12 versatile towels that you can use wet or dry, and with or without chemicals.

Turtle Wax 50750 Microfiber Towels, a pack of 12 microfiber towels used for cleaning a car's exterior surface

Turtle Wax 50750 Microfiber Towels

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