A butterfly migration means painted ladies are splattering on car paint and windshields. Here’s how to clean them off your car paint and windshields quickly without damaging your paint.

So you’ve just drove through a cloud of butterflies and now their guts are all over your windshield. How do you clean them off your car paint and windshield quickly without damaging your car’s paint and finish? Read on.

Windshield and headlights.

No water, in the middle of nowhere– Lift wipers to prevent swiping across the windshield. Spray windshield with washer fluid and let soak.  Lower wipers and use spray/swipe combo as usual.

Coca-Cola- Same method as above except use any type of fizzy Cola to spray and let soak on your windshield.

Baby wipes- Use baby wipes to remove large pieces of guts. Use a clean towel or napkin to remove the smudges.

Gas station method- Use the sponge side with mesh to remove any big pieces of butterfly off your windshield. Be nice and clean the guts off of the squeegee with another paper towel.

At home- Spray your windshield with water, water/soap mix, or windshield washer fluid. Let soak. If you have a razorblade, carefully run the blade around your windshield, scraping off any large pieces of butterfly. Spray off windshield with your hose.

If blades are not your thing, you can use a squeegee like the one below to clean off all the guts or you can buy dedicated bug sponges, too.

Car Paint-

Away from home method- Use a coin-operated pressure washer to blast any butterfly guts off. Do not use the soapy brush, they are notorious for damaging paint finishes.

At Home (quick)- If you have no time to wash your car, spray bugs with water to soften them up and use a moist dryer sheet to wipe off bugs. Dryer sheets act like micro-bug sponges and the oils in the sheets help to also soften butterfly guts. Used dryer sheets are OK, too.

At home (best)- Presoak your entire car with water and soap and let sit. Use special bug sponges like the ones listed above, they will not mess up your paint. You can also use any number of bug and tar removers but soapy water is just fine. Below are the best ones.

Make butterfly cleaning easier the next time.

This is key. If you drove through butterflies on your commute once, chances are you will drive through them again.

After cleaning off your car, apply paste wax to your paint and glass then buff off. This is a protective barrier and will make cleaning butterflies off your paint and glass 10x easier the next time.

Hope this helps.

Do you have any butterfly specific cleaning tips for your paint and glass? Let me know in the comments below!