i have a ton of bugs and stuff on my front bumper and on my hood where it meets the grille. what can i use that is safe enough for the paint? and should i wash my car, take off the grime, then wax my car? or should i take off the grime, wash it, then wax it?

 

I'm pretty sure all bug removers are somewhat harsh on the paint, so I use the bug remover, wash, and then wax.

 

Actually, you will want to do the following this order:

a) Treat bugs and tar with Bug and Tar Remover
b) Wash vehicle throughly
c) Polish vehicle
d) wax vehicle

Any tar remover is going to remove wax. You will definitely have to rewax the area.

 

what is a good polish? i used mothers carnuba wax after I wash and thats it. and how do you apply polish? the same way as wax?

 

A good example of a polish is Klasse All In One. Polishes have some kinds of abrasive in them to reduce imperfections like swirl marks. All In one is a light polish whereas DACP is stronger than AIO because it contains more abrasives.

I also forgot a step. You might want to consider claying to get rid of some of the other contaminants lurking in your paint.

 

To clean up any (light) scratching and swirling after getting rid of the bugs, Mothers and Meguiar's both make pre-wax cleaners (really gentle) and scratch removers (a bit stronger). If you have access to 3M products or Meguiar's Mirror Glaze pro line it may be better, but in all cases with things abrasive (even mildly) they should be worked into the paint thoroughly, some until nearly dry. Laying them on like waxes won't accomplish much.

EDIT: I have a differing opinion on the order of things. Personally I would wash the car first to get rid of all the dirt and sand that may be with the bugs before you try to rub those off with bug & tar remover. Then re-wash when done.

 

Thats what I would say also. Its always good to get rid of any loose dirt before you do anything else.