Products: Simoniz Insect & Tar Remover and Halfords Bug Shifter review

• Price: £4.50 (Simoniz insect and tar remover); £2 (Halfords bug shifter)
• Buy at: Halfords.com

IT’S SUMMER, and that means insects. While a bug’s life is no fun when it ends in an unforgiving collision with a car’s bumper, bonnet or windscreen at 70mph, it’s not much fun either for car-proud drivers when it comes to keeping their pride and joy shiny and free of splats and smears.

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The answer used to be to wash the car every weekend. But who has time? That’s the premise behind the insect and tar remover from Simoniz, which can be used between those infrequent weekend washes to get the worst of the gunk off your car.

Its maker claims it can deal with insect deposits, tree sap, bird droppings and tar – some of which should be removed as soon as possible, as it can do lasting damage to paintwork – and that it’s safe to be used on all external surfaces of a car. It costs £4.50 for 500ml; is it money well spent?

We put it to the test, together with a Halfords bug shifter pad, which costs £2 and can be used for washing a car with normal car shampoo or with a product such as the Simoniz.

The fluid should be sprayed on to a dry car, left for a couple of minutes and then wiped away with a dry cloth or sponge.

We did exactly that to the front of our car, and afterwards there were just one or two stubborn insect stains remaining. A second application removed the lot.

We had some reservations about applying it to a dry, dirty car, but the paintwork showed no signs of abrasion. You don’t need to a great deal of the liquid, so one bottle should last several summers.