Pretty soon this won't matter, but this past weekend in the Hocking Hills of Southern Ohio the warm weather brought out swarms of millions of those Asian ladybugs. I guess they might have been eating other insects full of evergreen sap because the windshield splats would not come off with normal antifreeze wiper fluid (and the windshield was covered with that stuff). Not only was this dangerous for visibility but it screwed up the wipers when it rained the next day. What's an effective brand or recipe of washer that works better on bug splats?

Pure and Simple....

Windex! I run pure Windex (or Glass Plus) in my washer tank, and it works miracles...

Sounds like a good idea, Griffin, but, being from Houston, would you know if it does any harm to add some Hot Shot or other alcohol-based antifreeze to Windex? Up here we're into occasional freeze season. Thanks for the advice!

[ 10-16-2001: Message edited by: trwinship ]

No, but I think that Windex, having ammonia in it, would not freeze as quickly as water does. I don't know...put a bottle in the freezer and see if it does...

I did, and it did--well, it got slushy. I'll try Windex when the weather gets warmer, though. But, damn, even Windex wouldn't take that stuff off--it was like having drops of shellac hardened on the windshield which, considering how they make shellac, was literally true. Had to use rubbing alcohol.

trwinship -
For stubborn glass stains, try Bon Ami cleaner (from your local food market). Follow up with regular glass cleaner.
I have not used Bon Ami on my X's glass yet so the usual advice - test in a small area first.

dave and xtoy - you need to see out

Yes, Bon Ami works fine, but I was originally wondering if there was something more potent I could have put in the washer tank to safely handle bugs full of pine sap.
Windex sounds the best so far in terms of not harming the paint. Thanks for the advice, all.

I carry a razor-blade paint scraper for the really baked on summertime bugs.

The ol' razor blade works well... takes off bugs and the dirt "film" build-up as well...