The Power of Bird Excrement

C

Carl Anderson

New member
I have had this obsessive detailing hobby for about 4 years now. About 3 weeks ago I noticed bird excrement on my Jet Black M3. I didn't think too much of it because we do not have a garage and this is not uncommon. So I took my Final Inspection quick detailer out of the trunk and wiped it off with a microfiber cloth. To my horror there was about a 2x 3" patch of dull etched paint that was clearly visible on my hood. So I thought I just need to use a paint cleaner. So I tried P21S paint cleaning lotion and the AIO, both to no avail. Now I am thinking I need to use something stronger like SSR 2.5. I do this using my PC and still this ugly defect does not budge. At this point I am getting a little concerned. I take out my rotary and try a few passes using a 4" cutting pad and still this blotch is just not going away.



At this point I do a search on Autopia and find out how serious bird excrement can be, and that this could be permanent. Needless to say, as an autopian obsessive that views paint appearance and quality as a quasi-religion I am not very happy.



Well, there is a happy ending. Acouple of days ago I was able to get the M3 in my shop up on Whidbey island and in a relaxed way see what I could do. I decided to try my Makiita rotary using DACP with a polishing pad and this did improve it some. I finally ended up using my Meguiar's red cutting pad and it is now 99.9% gone. The average person would not be able to find this defect even if they looked very closely. An Autopian given enough time and looking at the right angle would eventually detect it.



The reason I posted this story is that I've cleaned bird excrement from our 3 vehicles literally hundreds of times and this is the first time I have had a real problem. In the future I will be even more vigilent about how long it takes me to remove this stuff. And if I leave my car for more than one night I am going to put my cover on.



Carl
 
Don't forget "bug juice" and "tree juice" in addition to "bird juice". All cna be extremely corrosive to paint. As soon as you see any of the 3 "juices" get them off the paint ASAP. Always carry a QD and MF in your car's "bling box" in the trunk!
 
This is one of the things a talk about at my detailing clinics that the public attends. Bird droppings has acid that eat away the paint quickly. When I get a car in my shop and see it on the finish I ALWAYS educate the owner about the potential damage it can cause. Good post to remind us though. Gary
 
The acidity of the bird droppings has a lot to do with the bird's diet as well. I'm sure partially digested citrus berries are more corrosive than worms. Some insects are probably worse than others as well.
 
I had the same thing on a black 2005 Dakota I just detailed. I used RMG for the first time and it took it right out as well as some light swrils around the droppings where he had tried to remove them.
 
As has been discussed before, how aggressive the bird poop is has to do with their diet, etc., but I have noticed on a couple of friend's cars in the last week or two that it seems to be really bad right now...maybe there is a seasonal factor to their diet that makes now a bad time.
 
My regimen is to treat the bird crap with the IPA solution, letting it dwell for a few minutes, You can hold a cloth dampened with it to hold in place. I then remove after it has sufficiently broken down and treat it again with the IPA solution. I may follow with a mild baking soda solution not worrying too much if it is potentially abrasive because I'm going to polish later any way. I'll clean that off then finally treat it with a mix of car wash shampoo and water mixed in a bottle and finally rinse it off and dry and proceed to paint correction. This is all in effort to neutralize the acid from the crap as I understand it is possible the acid may still remain in the structure of the paint even if the crap is removed and that heat and water(rain, washing), especially on a dark colored car, can reactivate the acid if not completely removed first, and continue etching.
 
That sounds like a job for ScratchX -by hand. I had (what sounds) like the same situation on my wife's car and it worked wonders. I followed up with PP with an orange pad, and than MP with a foam applicator by hand, and it came out perfect.
 
Speaking of bird poop. On my way home from work yesterday i saw some lady driving a car which was tagged at LEAST 20 times by bird turds. It looks like she parked underneath the wrong tree. Of course, it bothered her none. She just drove her bird crap polka dot hood car like it was normal.
 
Idz21 said:
Speaking of bird poop. On my way home from work yesterday i saw some lady driving a car which was tagged at LEAST 20 times by bird turds. It looks like she parked underneath the wrong tree. Of course, it bothered her none. She just drove her bird crap polka dot hood car like it was normal.
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I see that daily :eek:
 
Maybe it's the birds where I live (& their diet), but I've never had a problem and I tend not to clean it off right away. My guess is (and not trying to open a can of worms) is that Zaino is a little more resistent to it than other LSP's. I can leave it (crap) on for two weeks and wash it off with no marks. My gf's car (with S100) is another story.
 
Idz21 said:
Speaking of bird poop. On my way home from work yesterday i saw some lady driving a car which was tagged at LEAST 20 times by bird turds. It looks like she parked underneath the wrong tree. Of course, it bothered her none. She just drove her bird crap polka dot hood car like it was normal.
Click to expand...



Makes you want to pull her over, break out your MF and QD, and save her.... :xyxthumbs
 
Pats300zx said:
Makes you want to pull her over, break out your MF and QD, and save her.... :xyxthumbs
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hahahaha I don't know if I would want to stain my towels with all that crap. I mean it was loads and loads of poop. You could probably power a small gas station with that excrement. :idea
 
I left a couple bird bombs on my mom's car for about 2 weeks as a test once. I kept telling her at least once a day that there was bird crap on her car in case she wanted to clean it off.

She obviously wasn't very concerned, so I proceeded to let the test run. After 2 weeks, there were no etching spots at all when I removed the bombs. On the paint was AIO/UPP. Maybe these birds just had a particularly paint-friendly diet.
 
OK, I have to ask a question. Do you guys have a glossary or something? I keep seeing all these abbreviations such as QD & MF. I have NOT idea what you are talking about.
 
Heres what i do about bird poop, first lightly lick it to see if its bitter, if its bitter than wipe off immediately, if its more on the salty side, it should be okay for a day or too....



Kidding. I have the same problem on my hood, about an 1inch, I plan on taking it out this weekend and will probably end up using compound since claying and cleaners couldnt remove it.
 
I had recently done a complete detail with the LSP being Poorboy's Ex with 2 additional layers of Souveran Paste wax. I was amazed because this bird ---- had never been a problem before. Now I know what it can do, and I am not convinced Zaino would have helped. If it can do this much damage to the clear coat, what chance does a wax or sealant have?
 
Lexuslvr said:
OK, I have to ask a question. Do you guys have a glossary or something? I keep seeing all these abbreviations such as QD & MF. I have NOT idea what you are talking about.
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QD = Quick Detailer. A spray-on product that usually contains light cleaning agents and gloss/slickness enhancers. Typically used after a wash to restore slickness and used to remove bird crap from the car.



MF = microfiber. The term "MF" by itself usually refers to a microfiber polishing towel.
 
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