Bug Remedy

[hsvjacket]

I've been told that spraying the nose of your car with PAM cooking oil before heading out into a particularly buggy area helps keep them from sticking. Do any of you have any experience with this? Any adverse effect on the paint? Is it a mess to wash off later -- or easy?

[Bob Allen]

A retired couple from Florida were planning to tour the lower US and eventually end up in California. They had a new car and were worried about bugs sticking to the paint. A friend suggested rubbing vaseline on the front of the hood, which the couple dutifully did during the trip.
They stopped at a full service station in Georgia. The young attendant cheerfully asked, "y'all want your oil checked?" Of course, replied the man.
When the attendent went to lift the hood, it slipped out of his hands. It did the same thing on the second try. After finally getting the hood up and latched, he removed the dip stick and brought it back to show the driver.
"Whatcha all got on your hood?" he asked.
"Vaseline"
Before the man could explain why there was vaseline on the hood, the young attendent screwed up his face in a half grin and asked, "tight garage?"

[TCD]

Hi Folks,

One summer I spent a lot of time driving a Beemer (BMW bike, the car is correctly referred to as a Bimmer) around the good'ole USA. In order to keep the bike looking nice I started by washing the bike very well. Then, I sprayed the fairing and leading surfaces with Pledge furniture wax, let it dry and buffed it. In the evening I would simply respray and wipe off the day’s accumulation of road stuff.

Pledge has two important characteristics: a) Pledge removes itself to avoid build up and Pledge does not leave a white residue as other waxes will. Pledge also works great around the instrument cluster and electronic equipment areas.

After a summer of riding every day (approximately 11K miles) the bike looked great! Pledge will NOT last for a long time if not maintained as an automobile wax might.

Have some fun

[BobA]

Had some friends with a classic car taking the Hot Rod Power Cruise across America, I know that they sprayed Pam on their car... assume, because it had an expensive paint job on it that the Pam would wash off and not make a mess.. I didn't see them upon their return, so can't be the professional on this subject...

Bob Andersen

[paprius4030]

Hey Pam also works great on your snow blower to keep it from clogging up when the snow is wet and heavy

[BobA]

Hey Pam also works great on your snow blower to keep it from clogging up when the snow is wet and heavy

Cool...which flavor?










Original
All Natural Original PAM® is the versatile leader in no-stick cooking sprays.


PAM® For Grilling
Our newest innovation, new PAM® For Grilling is specially formulated for no-stick at higher temperatures.


PAM® For Baking
PAM® For Baking was created specifically for baked goods, combing the unbeatable no-stick power of PAM® with real flour.


Butter
All Natural Butter Flavor PAM® is a great way to add butter flavor without adding the fat of real butter or margarine.


Olive Oil
In addition to its unbeatable no-stick performance, All Natural Olive Oil PAM® is a tasty and low fat alternative to real olive oil.

[Bikeman]

I found a product a few years ago that I use on the leading edges of my airplane. It is very important to keep airplanes bug free as the rough surface from squished bugs can disrupt airflow and slow the aircraft down, plus raise stalling speeds. The product is called Rejex, it applys very easily, just like wax, and bugs come off hugely easier. I do all of my vehicles with it (the whole thing) and they are lots easier to keep clean. You can find it on the internet, great stuff.

[Chuck Erwin]

"Then, I sprayed the fairing and leading surfaces with Pledge furniture wax, let it dry and buffed it. In the evening I would simply respray and wipe off the day’s accumulation of road stuff. "

I used pledge on my lexan airplane window for 10 years with no scratching or yellowing. I now use it on my motorcycle and like it better than other common products that are well known in this usage. I am sure that I will use it on my Prius, when I get it (sigh)

[Sufferin' Prius Envy]

Best way to keep bugs from sticking to your car is to prevent them from hitting the car in the first place.

At least that’s what we told a gal pal, Emily, in high school in the 70's when she complained about all the bugs messing up her new car. We even volunteered to take her to Tognotti’s to get advice from people with the best reputation in performance cars in the Sacramento area.

When she asked the guy behind the counter if they had “bug lights” he had a strange look come over his face as he wondered why this cute little girl wanted a drag race track lighting system. (That is the type of performance Tognotti’s was into) “Are you looking for an individual bulb, a lens cover, or the whole Christmas Tree?” “I don’t know . . . I don’t think I need that many lights.” “Well then, what exactly do you need the lights for?” Emily said in that you-are-so-dumb-mater-of-fact tone only a teenage girl can do, “to keep bugs off my car!” It took him about 1/10 of a second to grab his mouth and squeeze tight to stop from laughing hysterically. I thought the dude was going to pop by the looks of his watery eyes bulging out of his head, but he held his composure long enough to send her on to the “expert.”

The “expert” showed her a bunch of fog lights, and confused her with color spectrum, lumens, wattage, etc. He then asked her if she knew specifically what type of bugs were hitting her car . . . “because it makes a difference in what spectrum light you should buy.”

After a few more minutes, a lady who worked there came up to our victim/friend and said while pulling her away, “Honey, let me save you some money. Those fog lights don’t work very well for bugs. What you need is a good coat of wax . . . and some common sense.”

Emily didn’t know what the lady meant by “common sense” as she didn’t have any. When Emily said, “can’t I just spray some PAM on it . . . it would be easier” - everyone in the place busted up laughing!

She bought some car wax and said “that was embarrassing” when we walked out the door. Later at Pizza we let Emily in on “bug lights.” She was a good sport and thought it was funny.

It’s funny to learn after all these years that the PAM part of the joke was on us. ops:
Just don’t tell me that fog lights really do work as bug lights.

P.S. Doctor Emily!

[Swampthing]

You could spray the Pam on, but honestly TurtleWax makes an excellent spray on that literally takes the bug stains right off and shines the car in the process. And it's less than $10. Might be a better alternative than having the outside of your car smell like Pam... (um... anyone out there named Pam, don't take that the wrong way.)