We would have to admit that we have more-or-less had a break from them for the last couple of years BUT, they are back with a vengence! Yesterday morning I had to drive I95 south to Palm Bay. Pretty bad! Then, yesterday afternoon I had to drive over the Pineda and up A1A to the Cocoa Beach Library. Just as bad as 95! Even in the middle of the Indian River. The Accord is covered and I'm ready to spray it down with some soap water and then scrub it down with a heavy microfiber cloth.

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Dora Hates You

Hey Ding, put car in shade to cool down the paint then hit it with straight Coke (not diet coke) let it sit for a minute or two and scrub it with the micro fiber cloth. Rinse with hose water..... Don't let it dry or it can discolor your paint. Works great....

I saw a large SD truck yesterday and it looked like it hit one giant bug. The entire front end, windshield, rear views etc was coated in LB guts. The worst I've ever seen. I drove 30 mph on south Patrick to not splat them lol

Well, and so, , , , ,

First, one of the young guys across the street from me is a Pro Detailer for Mercedes. He loves Love Bugs, , , , he gets to charge a Premium! In any case, his prime wash method is to first spray the car down with a foaming cleaner (you and I can use dish or laundry soap in our pump sprayer). Let it sit for a few minutes and then spay it off with your garden hose using a good amount of pressure (he uses a low pressure pressure washer). The soap loosens up all the road grime and the water spray washes off a lot/most of the hard core dirt particles that could/would otherwise grind into your paint while scrubbing (microfiber or not). Now, in regard to microfiber: ONLY use a good microfiber cloth. Never, ever, use the good-old-tried-and-true cotton fabrics. Today's automotive paints sure are pretty and bright and shiney and all that but, they are limp dick compared to the paints used in the old days. A cotton towel will "swirl" the crap out of a 2019 paint job!

Now, back to this morning's Fook Bug task, , , ,

I do follow the neighbor's suggestions but, I'm lucky in that I have already put a bit of elbow grease into the finish. I religiously use a double coat of Rain X on my wind shield. This morning, after spaying on the soap, my garden hose pressure cleaned the windshield off without a single rub or scrub! For my paint I use a double coat of Nufinish every 6 or so months. For the most part, after the initial soap spray, the garden hose blew off about 90% of the bug matter. Sure, there was a little "scrubbing" involved, but for the most part the bugs slid right off.

AND an important point; at the end of the day, , , , wash all of your microfiber cloths by themselves. Do not wash them with any cotton fabrics.

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Dora Hates You

Edited: 05/07/2019 at 12:38 PM by dingpatch

I came back from a weekend elsewhere, drove back from Orlando airport in the dark (fortunately) and discovered the little monsters had exploded. Amazing. Repeat after me: Czech witch Jezibaba's magic spell words to the clueless water nymph who fell in love with a prince: Cory, Mory, Fook! Or something close to that. She also shows up in Hayao Miazaki's animated movie, Spirited Away. What a Czech witch and her twin sister are doing in Japan is anyone's guess.

Edited: 05/09/2019 at 02:48 PM by ww

You ain't seen nothing yet. Pray we don't get a west wind.

I had them whiteout my windscreen in half a mile on 98 and the Kissimmee River today. There are a hundred billion in the rural parts of Central Florida right now.

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I was right.

gross

Oh man, Ding, I love your neighbor - we have our car in there all the time and right now it's due again - stupid f'ers.

Anyway, they were so bad...we had to tape up our sliding door - time to replace it but I didn't know it till love bug season. So I fortunately had some painter's tarp, and taped it all over the door, which kept them out for the most part, other than the ones that came in when you opened the door. Oh yeah, and the MASSES of them that would hang onto the animals to hitch a ride through the door!

What a year!

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[Feminism is] a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. ~Pat Robertson

And, , , , so I'm washing off the Accord and the "new guy from New Jersey" from down the street walks by and comments on the nice looking paint color of the Accord. Yep, this-and-that, that-and-this, etc. He's not to happy about all the love bugs encrusting his new Ford F-150. He's probably going to have to get it washed this Saturday. ?????? Well, it seems that he has not a single clue as to what Love Bugs do to automotive paint jobs! I told him that Saturday will be too late and that even "right now" may not help much, depending on how long his pickup has been "encrusted".

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Dora Hates You

Oh geeze. That poor guy. We do the front of the car every night- I've started keeping a "washing station" right by the front of the garage. I hate these fookers.

In good news, though, the invasion in the house seems to be over. I felt like I was living in a horror story. We had ALL the windows and doors save the one slider in the kitchen (it goes into the atrium) replaced after Irma, and I finally figured where they were comingin, and tried a few ways of taping to keep them out, but finally had to just cover the whole opening with plastic. I guess that door is next...

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[Feminism is] a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. ~Pat Robertson

I worked in them on Thursday and at times I was covered; crawling in my shirt, up my shorts, drinking my iced tea. I was wearing a white shirt and have a white truck...they love white. They can go away now.

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I was right.

Yeah, I actually thought about you and all the people working outside. I felt really, really sorry for you last week.

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[Feminism is] a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. ~Pat Robertson

They make your skin crawl after awhile, but you can't brush them off or you get slimed.

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I was right.

They are thinning out Orlando way, but still thick as thieves from 192 south to Okeechobee.

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I was right.

I'm not a native Floridian, but will say this is the worst Love Bug season I have experienced. Will be glad when it is over.

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If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph: THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD WAS MUSIC - KV

I remember it being bad in the 80's but tapered down since then. It's the worst it has been in a while. Guess it also depends on location within FL so not sure.

It's going on three weeks now and they are still thick along the Kissimmee River.

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I was right.

Edited: 05/18/2019 at 07:43 PM by Cole

Still there, but not total windscreen whiteout. East winds are a good thing right now.

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I was right.