Love Bugs

We just opened an express wash in Orlando. How do express washes handle the Love Bug Season?

Like money in the bank brother!

More buckets, more brushes, more sponges, more rewashes....as long as I don't have to pay someone to scrub'em. For bug soap, we have a tube in the bottom of the presoak mixing tank for my employees to refill their buckets and not have to mix any products. You know what happens when they are allowed to mix chemicals.

We simply have a bucket with water and some scrub brushes on a broom handle. We only use water in the bucket just in case the customer says that whatever was in the water dulled their finish or if they have to leave for some reason before washing. Most importantly is our sign that says "Scrub carefully at your own risk". We buy the scrub brushes and handles from Lowe's. Unfortunately, the scrub handles break very easily so we have had to modify them to handle the abuse from customers throwing them on the ground. We have a hose bib with a small 18" hose that sits in the bug scrub bin so that we don't have to transport water or pull out a hose. We also removed the handle from the hose bib so that customers cannot turn the water on themselves. We try to check and change the water about every hour or so.

Erie Brush sells the aluminum poles with fine thread and then you buy from the the fine to acme thread coupling for 2 bucks. My poles that my attendants use are 5 years old and have not broken yet. all i do is replace the heads once a month. It's simply better the the wood and fiberglass poles and they have handle grips on them so they won't slip out of thier hands. But for bugs I have a drop gun with bug juice from my chem company and busy days I have an attendant that simply directs the vehicle on spray the front end of the car that 's next to load. It can be applied outside and in the sun and doesn't mark the paint "3 years running". By the time the 2 wand and brush preppers get to it the bugs, it melts like butter. D-side prepper wets the front with the gun and the P-side prepper uses the bi-level brush on the alum pole. After that we rely on the wash process, you get a few stubborn ones but i'de say 95-98 perect are gone. GOOD LUCK!!!

My wife is from Florida, and I have heard the horror stories of the Love Bug and the GOOOO the leave at 70MPH. So I don't know if this will help or not. In California we get swarms of bugs in the spring and get baked on in the hot desert sun. The wash customer comes in 3 weeks later with bugs dried onto the grill like cement. Most washes keep a bucket with APC or some kind of bug juice and bug sponges soaking. Depending on the area some have the attendants brush the car and use a bug sponge where needed, other bug sponge every car. It is labor intensive but in some cases its the only they can get it done right.
If you have shade in your prep area or a "sun safe" product, like 2greatcarwashes1convientlocation, you can try using a flojet pump, coiled air hose and chemical sprayer and apply the product before it makes it in the tunnel. That might be enough to loosen the bugs for you to brush or high pressure off the bugs.
I hope this helps
Danny

I process them like this. I am a flex service that will do 250-300 CPD (durring love bug season) with 6-8 staff max at 15-20% labor. One auto-cashier:

Durring love bug season I DO NOT SCRUB ANY CAR FOR UNDER $7 and this season that will be $10! I put up a sign at the XPT stating "If you require the bugs removed please get $_____ wash the $ ____ wash WILL NOT REMOVE THE LOVE BUGS". If they get a $3 wash (I just started a $3 wash, down from $5)I push the roller up button and send their butts down the line! The XPT has an option for "bug removal" for $2 but my "after care" or detail area, whatever you want to call it this year is located next to the XPT, so I always have an employee available to assit on the XPT. They are told by me not to allow a car with love bugs or covered with love bugs to get a $3 or $5 EE wash without knowing that THEY WILL NOT COME OFF and will not be scrubbed... period. All reciepts are placed on the DASH with the codes up so I can check the queue as they pull in the conveyor.

As the cars stack... and they do STACK, I pre-wet them with a garden hose to prevent flashing and loosen the bugs... usually 3-4 cars at a time while the car in the tunnel is being scrubbed. Then I spray on BUG GOO from LUSTRA in a 1:10 (1:6 max)ratio via a pump sprayer.... sometimes even the cars at the XPT getting 6-7 cars soaking at one time. I scrub the cars in Queue with a bug brick called a DO-ALL scrubber. It's a yellow foam brick that will not scratch the finish (never use a scruffy). It sometimes takes 2-3 applications of BUG GOO for cars covered in love bugs so you need to start them early in stacking to prevent delays. I can keep 3 cars moving down the tunnel at all times if I pre-soak them this way. Long lines and delays kill us durring this time.... and my arms too. What does not come off with scrubbing will come off with HP prep guns. The hard part comes in 3 weeks or more after love bugs are gone and people insist that you didn't get them off!

Just a though but I feel that bugs should be removed with any wash package. We get a lot of snow birds that live in FL and drive back home in the NOrth East and they ask what wash will take the bugs off and now I kinda know why. You take the good and the bad. when someone drops us 19.99 for a offline vac and window no wash included. you get some that you ask why they get it done it's mint and an another you ask if they live in thier car? So for me bug removal is a must with any wash package. It shows consistent value and pricing to the customer. Like I said I have a drop coiled line hooked to a flo-jet rite by the entrance door. before the car loads the attendant gives the front and windshielda mist. while the car in front of them is being prepped thier getting a good 20-30 second dwell time. and usuallly the customer will hit the wipers to see driving on and romove most of them on the windshield. Our produst is 4-1 dillution and can be applied outside in the sun. I'm not knocking other people methods but for me you eithier do it to all or none. Especially now with the economy and gas prices, people are looking to spend less. My wash numbers are the same as last year but avg ticket price down 20 percent.

I justify not prepping an EE for under s certin $ amount by telling the customer (and myself & staff) that when you go to a SS or a gas station IBA, does anyone prep your car? And you pay more than $3! So for $3 you get a clean car without bugs being scrubbed! I can't compete as an EE and still have labor to remove bugs for that low of a price. I know other have a "one price" and prep all cars alike because it causes confussion or complaints. However when you go to a restaurant and order a sirloin steak and the guy behind you orders chateau briau (sp) (filet mignon), do you expect to get the same steak that he paid for? A $5 wash does not get the same attention at my site as a $30 wash does.

Expectation are always difficult... but I spell out what we do for each wash package on my signs.