Bugs. They absolutely are a plague for anyone who cares about how their RV looks. But cleaning them off the rig is no fun. So the folks at Bugs Off® Pads (formerly known as The Love Bug Eraser®) sent me a set of their bug removers to try out. I was really looking forward to doing so… but then I came across campgrounds that wanted no part of cleaning one’s RV.
Where I’ve been camping lately, the combination of factors including the severe water shortages in the West means that washing one’s RV is prohibited. How do I test these out then? And what are they?Â
Bugs Off Pads are essentially foam-like pads that the company says easily clean bugs off of vehicles including RVs. They state that the pads are usable on any surface and won’t do damage to the vehicle.
So I got an idea. I got a spray bottle from the store and filled it with water and a tiny bit of soap. I spritzed a little of the soapy water and then went over to the front of the RV. Our poor trailer looked like it had been a participant in a bug massacre.Â
Surprisingly, this method worked very, very well.Â
I then went and tried it on the grille of the pickup and it, too, dislodged all the dead bugs that had been freeloading since we were in Indiana.Â
The impressive thing was how easily the bugs came off with the pads. Well, pad. I only had to use one to make the RV look much, much nicer. You can wash them out when done and reuse them. Plus they’re made here in America!
The Bugs Off Pads kit that was sent to me included three pads and a plastic mount that will hold a pad using hook-and-loop fasteners on its surface. This mount can be screwed into a broom handle. I happen to have an extending broom handle with me, so this was the perfect way to reach the top of the trailer.Â
More uses for Bugs Off Pads
One of the things that really makes me crazy is dead bugs on the truck’s windshield. Those truck stop or gas station squeegees never do a good job of removing them. Using the handle that I have in the truck and the soapy water already in the buckets at the filling stations, you can do a great job of making the windshield usable once again.Â
The cleaning job will be much more complete when I can drag the trailer into a self-service car wash and actually do a great job. But the Bugs Off Pads work as promised and are really easy to use. I was surprised at how well they worked considering how little water I applied to the surface.Â
Honestly, I was a bit skeptical at first, but the Bugs Off Pads did what they said and did it well. Now I’m hooked on these. To try them for yourself, they’re available on Amazon as well as on the company’s website, where there is more information about the product.
##RVT1063
I have no problem getting the bugs off the front of my coach since I realized that waiting is part of the problem. When I get gas, I hit the windshield with the supplied squeegee thing AND the front of my rig. I don’t have to do a great job, but when I do get where I’m going, all the bugs haven’t been baked on there so come right off with very little effort.
Spray some store brand hydrogen peroxide on the bugs first. Let it sit for a few minutes. They will foam up and start to dissolve. Use the some of the nylon mesh covered sponges. Then follow with soap and water. The peroxide will not harm the finish or remove wax.
Old motorcycle trick to remove bugs from the windshield.
Why are these better than microfiber clothes?
My DH found these online last year and we’ve been using them ever since. They work great. We live in the Northeast where bug season lasts for months and use this on our cars and motorhome, easy to get the worst bugs off. I wish we had gotten the plastic mount with ours, that would be very handy!
After reading Tony’s experience with the Bugs Off pads, I decided to try a bug removal technique on the MH that I often used on the fifth wheel. I hadn’t tried it with the MH because it wasn’t successful on my Ram truck. but today I did the entire cab area of the RV in 1/2-hr.
It requires 5-10 used dryer sheets, a microfiber “sponge” or cloths, and a bucket of clean water. Wet down a small area (5-10 sq. ft.) with the sponge, wet the dryer sheet, and rub the area until the bugs begin to soften. Then rinse the area with the dripping sponge and you’re done–bugs removed!
The secret is to only use this method on shaded portions of the RV because the chemicals dry very quickly in full sun. So, it may take an entire day to do the rig if you wait for the sun to move a side at a time into shade. But that’s not a problem if you can move the RV around during the bug-removal process. And, since the sheets have been used once in the dryer, the total cost of this method is ZERO!
Wow, the Bugs Off Pads must be in high demand because Amazon doesn’t have them right now!