recently bought a set of near perfect year of manufacture tags for my car. unfortunately the front plate has some petrified 53 yr old bug guts still on it. I've tried soaking in water and dawn dish soap, (no dice) and soaking for 2 days with w-d 40 under plastic, (some came off with that and an old tooth brush. anyone have any other ideas for a bug solvent that wont destroy the original paint on the plate?
I have used drier sheets soaked in water and car wash soap to remove bug guts on my off topic cars and it works good.
Vinegar? Orange citrus based spray cleaner? Cream-type hand cleaner? (non-abrasive) Steam, like one of those small, hand-held steam cleaner guns?
Water and dish soap. The trick is to get the water really hot, kinda turns the bugs into a gelatin state.
I have ridden a bike for many many years and many miles , bugs suck ! The best I have tried using removing from chrome and paint is kerosene or diesel fuel . As far as cloth , leather best I have seen is wear it off adds to the effect while sitting in church passing the giving plate .
Anteater saliva. You don't have that? Neither do I, but here in Texas we use armadillo spit. (The armadillos didn't want me to post this, but they dug up my lawn so many times I don't give a crap. I'll post it anyway.)
Check with a body shop in your area to see if they have any of this you could try: Or, just buy some at your local parts store. I've used it as a pre-cleaner on both chrome and paint and it will absolutely not hurt paint. Be very liberal when you apply it - really flood the surface and let it soak as long as possible. But even if it doesn't work for this you'll still find lots of uses for it around your shop.
Drive with it at sunset on a hot summer's day. The fresh bug guts will soften the old bug guts (similar chemical make-up). Wash with soap and water as soon as you get home.
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