OK, I got a tip for you all. I actually dreamt about it and when I woke up I thought that it wasn't a bad idea..
I really struggle keeping all the bugs off my car and even when I clean it they all dont come off. I cleaned my car yesterday in biological washing power (the stuff you clean your clothes with!) and I am amazed on how easy the bugs come off!
Crazy as it sounds but remembering back to GCSE days the washing powered contains enzymes that 'digest' proteins.. thats what bugs are!
Really impressed, cleaned the whole car with the solution and it sparkles! I dont know if it does any damage to the paint work but I really cant see there being a problem!
Any comments?
Andrea
Andrea aka 'Branston'
Part of the 269 long world recording breaking convoy of Minis - March 2007
Here's a snippet from a usual car cleaning tips page:
"The paint on your car is only slightly thicker than a cheap plastic bag. The reason it is shiny is that there are important oils on the surface which give it a "wet" look. The newer the car, the more oils there are on the surface. Using the wrong detergent will literally wash the oils off the paint and leave it with a dry, dull look which gradually becomes cracked or flaky. This is known as oxidation. The paint is being starved of what it needs to stay alive and you will find a dead layer forming on the surface and this is exactly what you don't want. But using something like washing-up liquid or washing powder will cause oxidation. What you should use is a proper car shampoo, and you can get this at any good car care shop"
If I remember rightly there are also salts in both washing up liquid and washing powder. Salt & cars don't mix well
Personally, I just soak the front of the car first, do the rest, and by the time you get round to the front, bugs come off easy.
Keeping it waxed makes it much easier to clean.
Stop ruddy rainin cos the 2nd Cam needs a thrashin !
Just use a proper bug sponge, they come off easy.
1500miles of French and Spanish baked on bugs took about 10 minutes to get off the front of my MCS.
EB/W Cooper S, leather, 16" x-lites, climate, sunroof, heated seats, MFSW, Alpine CD. Whalen Shifter, Bonnet stripes, tints all round. Normally to be found in the outside lane of the M20.
I used to do R&D for one of the companies who make a few of the well known brands of washing powder so I'll add my two penneth.
Its unlikely you did any damge to your car's clear coat finish. (Its the clear coat which gives your car its nice shiny finish.) Here's why.
The only things in there which *might* damage your finish are bleaches and zeolite builders. The bleach which is used is pretty weak and would need a fair amount of time to actually attack the finish. It might be a problem if you soaked your car in it for a few hours at 60°C but a couple of minutes at ambient won't do it any harm.
Zeolite builders are the only non soluble solids found in a washing powder, typically they are 1-5 microns in size - pretty tiny- you're more likely to scratch the finish by removing the crud which has attached to your car than with the zeolite found in the powder.
The surfactants in the washing powder are responsible for its cleaning ability and I pretty much guarantee that you'll find the same surfactants in a car shampoo too, for those interested they are alkyl benzene sulphonates and an ethylene oxide based non-ionic surfactant probably C12- 7EO plus a bit of perfume to make you think that you're getting something special.
There isn't acually any 'salt' in your washing powder. It is stuffed full of sodium sulphate but that won't harm you finish. (and for all you smart@rse chemists out there by 'salt' I was refering to sodium chloride ) There's also a hell of a lot more salt kicking about in winter. I'd be more worried about that.
Bear in mind that the companies who develop these products put them through any number of tests to make sure that they will hold up to pretty much anything. Car finishes are some of the most highly developed coatings around, serious amounts of money have gone into developing them, they'll have done this test.
The only thing you've done (apart from removing the crud) is to remove a little bit of wax from the surface (assuming you've waxed the car). All you've got to do (other than to use a good quality car shampoo next time e.g. Autoglym) is to give it a wax with a good quality wax e.g. Autoglym red label, then Autoglym Gold label.
Why use an actual car shampoo next time? The washing powder probably isn't powerful enough to remove some of the road film which has built up on the car. This comes from unburnt fuel, engine oil etc.
The snippet which Stormcrow copied from another site isn't actually correct (no offence meant btw) and if this is from a car care website then they should be ashamed of themselves for providing very poor advice.
The reasons its shiny is not because of 'oils' on the surface, its because its got a very smooth surface and can reflect a large proportion of the incoming light. All the wax does is to restore that smooth finish by filling over the microscratches on the surface. The smoother the top layer, the better the gloss.
Carnauba waxes such as those in Autoglym Gold and Meguiars and products such as Zaino (which aren't technically waxes) can be applied into those microscratches and its the ability of these products when buffed to form a coherant film which gives then gives the car its excellent highg gloss finish.
Washing-up liquid/ powder won't/ can't cause oxidation, this is a chemical and process and there's nothing which can cause an oxidisation reaction other than the bleach which I don't believe would.
How do I know about car finishes I hear you ask? I now do R&D for the surface coatings industry
IB ONE, Seven Hole Alloys, Air Con, CD, Chrome bits - Now with Chrome mirrors and chrome side vents + Custom engraved Whalen Shift Knob and four, yes four driving lights!
The surface coating industry does anything which, er, coats surfaces such as, er, paints.... Kind of a catch all term used in the industry.
In answer to your points questions:
1) Do as I say not as I do
2) True, Washing up liquid is a detergent, but there's nothing in it which can damage your paint work. I'm not kidding when I say that there's not much difference between washing up liquid and car shampoo. Its all smoke, mirrors and good advertising.
3) I agree, nothing beats Autoglym red and gold.
See you on the ponies run (hopefully)
IB ONE, Seven Hole Alloys, Air Con, CD, Chrome bits - Now with Chrome mirrors and chrome side vents + Custom engraved Whalen Shift Knob and four, yes four driving lights!
What's your opinion of paint treaments like SuperGuard, are they worth getting or is it just as good to use a polish / wax / sealant for instance like the Autoglym products you mention.
As I understand it (I was never offered it) Supaguard is a treatment which is dealer applied and is meant to reduce the effort it takes to remove all the crud from your car. Once clean it should then look really nice and shiny. The interior gets treated too I think.
For the interior all they can do is spray some Teflon containing product onto your upholstery. You can buy the same stuff from Halfords.
I'm guessing here but it wouldn't surprise me if the Supaguard treatment was a 'Zaino' type product which chemically crosslinks on the surface of your clear coat (it doesn't chemically bond with you paint work, only physical interactions). Since it crosslinks you get a very durable finish.
If the Supaguard exterior treatment is so good why isn't it offered in a bottle at Halfords? Clearly because people would buy it for £10 and not buy the £XXX proucts from the dealer. You can bet your @ss that you can buy the Supaguard or similar product from Halfords or another autostore just under a different name. There's no reason not to sell it if its really that good. If there's money to be made, someone will make it - whether that product is anygood or not.
I try not to be cynical about a lot of these products, but I just don't believe the hype. Recommendations are the best thing to rely on. Time and time again you'll see people recommend Zaino, Autoglym and Meguiars. These products have one thing in common, simple effective advertising campaigns. They don't hype the product. Word of mouth has given them a great reputation so they don't need to.
I did a quick search on Supaguard/ Superguard, most people didn't think it was worth the money. If the MINI paint job/ interior finish isn't up to the job, why isn't this stuff applied at the factory where it would be cheaper and probably better applied?
I'm fortunate that I work in an industry which uses similar products and I have a scientific understanding of how they work. I was a bit bored at work one day so I did some analysis of one particular product. I can't say I was shocked to find out what was in it, but at nearly £10 for a 250ml bottle of the stuff I was hoping for a little more 'substance' to it. I later looked at the price of the raw materials, they cost less than a £1 and that was buying commercial, not wholesale.
That said, like a lot of people on here I use Autoglym produts and I find them to be excellent. Autoglym red and then a couple of coats of gold and you'll have a shine that is second to none!
Since I've rambled for a long while, I'd better go now.
I normally try to keep out of the wax wars, I've gone and stuck both of my size 12's in now
IB ONE, Seven Hole Alloys, Air Con, CD, Chrome bits - Now with Chrome mirrors and chrome side vents + Custom engraved Whalen Shift Knob and four, yes four driving lights!
Ok, I'll add my bit, can't be ar5ed to read through all the long posts so it may have been covered all ready and if it has soz.
Washing powder does indeed contain salt and it will have a negative effect on your paint work.
It may look shiny after cleaning it but your paint will effectively be bare as the powder contains harsh chemicals that will strip any wax that may have been on your car. This in time will cause the paintwork to dull.
I use johnson and johnsons baby shampoo to wash my car as it is very gentle and greatley reduces streaks after drying it. I make sure I have a good coat of wax (I use Zymol Concours or destiny) and this makes removing the bugs from the paint work very easy.
So basically make sure when you wash the car you put a bit of wax on the front and you'll find those bugs are dead easty to get off.
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Rid your car of bugs for really cheap! 
EB/W Cooper S, leather, 16" x-lites, climate, sunroof, heated seats, MFSW, Alpine CD. Whalen Shifter, Bonnet stripes, tints all round. Normally to be found in the outside lane of the M20. 
Don't worry! 
) There's also a hell of a lot more salt kicking about in winter. I'd be more worried about that.
