It’s happened to nearly all of us, walking to your car to find that it’s been given a lucky blessing by a passing bird, or judging by some dropping I’ve seen, a flying elephant. Some times these droppings can be quickly removed with a damp cloth and you can get on with your day, however there are some bird’s droppings that seem to have spot welded themselves to the cars paintwork. Here is my 5 step guide to the safe removal of bird droppings from your cars paint surface.
1. Fast removal is the key here, and ideally try to remove any bird droppings within 24 hours of first noticing them on the car. Depending on the type of bird and I assume diet this can be a very quick task, made much easier if your car is wet from rainfall.
2. If the offending dropping refuses to budge with the wipe of a damp cloth more serious measures may need to be taken. It’s at this point through I’ve had some people come to me with paint covered in what looks like an area rubbed with sand paper. However it’s not sandpaper, it is in fact where they have scrubbed the bird dropping from the paint work with a Brilo pad or pan scrubber! Let’s just say that they did remove the dropping, but also ruined an area of paint work that will need to be re-sprayed or brought back to life with T-Cut (If they’re lucky). Instead of scuffing away at the dropping, purchase a product such as Car Plans Tar and Bug remover which costs around £3.00. Run a bucket of hot soapy water and soak a microfiber wash mitt. Then take the suds covered wash mitt and lay it over the bird dropping for around 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Once the dropping has been soaked, take the bug and tar remover, liberally spraying the covered area, then re-soak the wash mitt and replace for a further 2 minutes. You can then use a power hose or regular garden hose to blast at the edges of the dropping, again trying to break it up.
4. While continuing this process start to gently rub the dropping in a back and forth motion and you’d should see it start to break up (this is a glamorous post!). This isn’t a quick process and the key is not to rush. If the dropping is being stubborn and being blasted with power hose isn’t working, try to pick at the edges, but do so using your hand inside the mitt so it’s the microfiber that comes into contact with the paint and not finger nails that could scratch and mark the surface.
5. Finally once the bird dropping has given up its rain of terror, simply take a quick detailer, such as Demon Shine or Meguiars Quick Detailer and spray over the area, then buff up with a microfiber cloth to restore the paints glossy finish , alternatively take the opportunity to completely wash your car.
A quick search on Google certainly brings up many methods, but I’ve found this one works well for me, however if you have other suggestions please let me know. Patience is the key to removing bird dirt and it’s important not to use abrasive materials to remove droppings, and they could do more harm than good!
