Bird Droppings Stain

[das boots]

I have these two stains approx 1" splatter. One on the hood and the other on the roof. They were there when I purchased the car. The car looks like it has been under the sun since its purchase. Was not well taken care of. They look like more of droppings than of tree saps. I tried to clay, wax, wash and the stains are still there. Does bird droppings really that acidic that they eat through clear coats? Are the stains now hopelessly tatooed to the car for the rest of her life????? I can post pics if you guys need to see them.....

[RVAzhp]

Short answer- yes. they are that acidic. I tell people this all the time who just let it sit on their car. i try to get it off as soon as possible even if the rest of my car is dirty and i don't have time to wash it I'll use water and soft rag to wipe it off. if you let them sit, especially in the sun and without a good wax on it they will definitely stay there forever.

i'd recommend maybe using some light abrasive scratch remover/polish and hit it with a buffer. that McGuires water spot remover works pretty well too (http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_detail.do?q=4576). with the right steps you can make it very barely noticeable but it will usually always be there.

[danewilson77]

Rotary and some polish should take it out.

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[RVAzhp]

yeah, depending on the depth/length it's been there. i remember one time on my old hyundai i spit a nasty luggy out my window and got some on my paint and didn't get it off for a bit in the summer and there was always a "flat" not so glossy spot there no matter what i did.

also had bird shit on my old integra (had couple year old black paint) and i couldn't get it off the trunk lid completely.

[das boots]

I already did the buffing. No change. You are right...I do not know how long the poop have been there. But it looks like it has been there for quite a while now......

My ZHP has a birth mark aka tatoo....on the wrong places.

[kayger12]

Yep, sounds like it's through the clear coat- in which case you're stuck with it.

I had a tree sap spot on the 325 that was left there by the PO. Same deal.

Sucks.

Sent from my outdated Droid X

[Ryans323i]

You can get it out. But you'll have to make it look worse before it will get better. Wet sand lightly with a piece of 2000 grit. If the spot(s) are only 1", don't use a piece bigger than 1.25" (I like, and was taught, to wrap the sand paper around a small broken piece of a paint stick so you have a flat sanding surface and you will be able to apply even sanding pressure.). After you wet sand, the clear will look scratched and dull. Then you just start working with your polishes, heavy abrasive to light abrasive swirl remover. Always sand lightly with extremely wet paper and wet surface, you don't want to remove too much clear. You can always repeat the process.

[M0nk3y]

Wet Sand is needed. Make sure you get the proper paper to do it. I use Meguiars Wetsand paper

[danewilson77]

Wet Sand is needed. Make sure you get the proper paper to do it. I use Meguiars Wetsand paper

Did.not.think.birds.were.allowed.to.poopie.on.your .car?

[JohnnyGraphic]

What they said. Be VERY careful, go slowly. Do a little at a time. It is better to re-do a light sanding job than to sand down to your primer.

When you say that you already did the buffing, what do you mean? What products did you use? Process? There is a lot of confusion/misinformation out there regarding what a product can/cannot do.

I've spent countless hours on detailing my car (as have many others) and learned quite a bit over time. Sometimes, using the right polishing pad can make all the difference in the world.

In any event, I hope you can get that nastiness off and get your hood and roof back to it's former glory.

Johnny

[RVAzhp]

i've done a lot of detail work and never touched wetsanding. that shit scares me.

[danewilson77]

i've done a lot of detail work and never touched wetsanding. that shit scares me.

Someone here wetsanded their entire boot lid, to get rid of "orange peel". Came out amazing.

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[JohnnyGraphic]

Someone here wetsanded their entire boot lid, to get rid of "orange peel". Came out amazing.

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

Yeah. Crazy! There are professionals out there that will wet-sand a brand new Ferrari!!! But, I wouldn't waltz down to Home Depot and buy 2000 grit and go to town without a lot of experience/practice first. It would take a lot of time, patience and the right sanders, polishers, pads, polishes etc to do. A LOT of money and time to spend for 2 spots. If I didn't have all the right stuff/tools, I take it to a pro and have them take care of it.

UNLESS, you already are set up to do that sort of work. It's a big investment. I bought the Porter Cable machine and a handful of pads, polishes etc when I first got my car. Always kept it clean and detailed. Still do to an extent. Too busy and getting too old to keep it up these days. When I need to, I'll do a polish/wax, but it's easy for me since I have all of the tools etc.

Johnny

[JohnnyGraphic]

i've done a lot of detail work and never touched wetsanding. that sh*t scares me.

I did a few spots when I was doing paint touch ups on my car. Totally nervous! Some guys have a paint depth detector thingy so they know how much paint is on the car before they dive in and start wet-sanding.

[redwagon]

2000 grit is very benign, but be careful......thats exactly what a local body shop did to remove something on my hood and suddenly they were through the color coat too.....so they repainted the hood no charge.

And.........before i could wax the hood (trying to let it cure per their request....) I got a massive corrosive bird shit on the hood, didnt see it until that night at home and it made permanent damage. I havent taken 2000 to it yet.....but i hit it with polishing glaze and can still see it, especially with flourescent lighting.......really disappointing. 99% of people who look at the hood or car will never see it, but i know its there.........and can see it when I look for it.

keep things well waxed.......its the best first line of defense......
Tim

[JohnnyGraphic]

I've been pretty fortunate so far. I garage my car at night and my jobs have had covered parking (most of them), so my car hasn't been exposed to the elements like some.

Still, I've had a handful of splatters, but most of them have been removed with some heavier polishes and some TLC. Even with a wax or glaze, the bird-crap will eat thru it depending on how acidic it is and how long it's left on the paint. Wax isn't impenetrable. It IS fairly soft and is extremely thin.

So, I keep a small bottle of detailers spray and a microfiber towel in the car. Even if the car is filthy dirty, I would rather live with a few microscratches (which can easily be polished out) than with the eternal bird splatter.

As far as protection, I put a somewhat new product on the car last year. It's called Optimum Opti-Coat and so far it has served me well. http://www.autogeek.net/optimum-opti-coat.html It has even helped protect the car against marring from the car wash I take it to.

Just my 2 cents.

Johnny

[das boots]

Me thinks this will have to be done professionally. I wll ask my friendly neighbor body shop owner for his thoughts.....not a priority for now. I will probly swing by and just ask for advise and see what he says....

[M0nk3y]

Did.not.think.birds.were.allowed.to.poopie.on.your .car?

LOL they don't :)


i've done a lot of detail work and never touched wetsanding. that shit scares me.

It's not as bad as people think. Yes you gotta be very aware of what you're doing, but its a piece of cake after that.

Deepest I'll go is a 1000 grit, and that's playing it safe. I'll follow up with 2000 than 3000 and it usually comes out fine.

There have been times where I wanted to go deeper to remove a scratch, but realize I'll be pushing it and I don't want to take the risk. Wetsanding helps round the corners off on the scratch enough where you don't even see it until you're right over it. There are a couple spots on my hood from the clearbra where this method had to be taken into effect.

[das boots]

Are birds more attracted to poop more on dark colors than on bright ones???? Any scientific studies done on bird poop? All I know is that 'shit birds'..look like sea gulls, the ones you see on the garbage dumps and the like have really terrible and acidic poop....and they are bigger too.

[SoarinZHP]

My not-so-scientific study has shown birds are more attractive to shiny points of light or glare. Something that polarized sunglasses would take the sting off of. Seriously - birds crap on reflecty objects. Drive a round a dirty car with no shine and no poop. Clean car with lotsa shine - lotsa poop....

[das boots]

Nice study....

[kayger12]

http://veggie.buntch.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/larsonhowbirdsseetheworld.jpg

[danewilson77]

Lol.

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[das boots]

http://veggie.buntch.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/larsonhowbirdsseetheworld.jpg

That's what I figure....

[M0nk3y]

I had bird hit me on my arm. It was probably payback because they knew I'd literally kill them if they got the car.