Those Seabirds, pigeons, geese, bats, flycatchers, and the like can be cruel to your cars. This poop not only looks ugly to the eyes but also damages the surfaces due to its acidic nature with a Ph of 3.5-4. This is more true for vehicles with little or zero protection. Let’s see how you can remove these droppings from your car.
How to Clean Bird Poop off Car?
Bird droppings can be a problem, especially in the summer because the car’s surface temperature is high and the bird poop can etch into such a hot surface pretty darn quickly.
Bird poop not only contains uric acid in it but also may contain any sharp food that the bird has eaten (birds eat pebbles and gravel). This will scratch the car paint. The acid will ruin the protective coating of the car paint.
#1- Using Hot Water & Dish Soap/Hand Soap
This method is suitable for those who are going to fully wash their vehicle and not just the bird poop alone. In Fact, it is wiser to wash the full vehicle if it is dirty because if you will simply try to remove the bird poop when you will wipe/scrub the poop, the surrounding dirt will also be scrubbed on the surface which leaves micro-scratches.
STEP 1- First rinse your car down with a hose.
STEP 2- The next step is to place a piece of cloth over the body paint or glass and then pour hot water over it. Make sure to hold the cloth with your other hand while pouring water so that it doesn’t slip. The trapped heat from the cloth will be transferred to the droppings to soften them and break them down.
STEP 3- Make a solution of dishwashing detergent (like dawn) or hand soap and warm water. Use a spray bottle to spray this solution over the softened bird poop, or simply pour this solution over the poop (if you don’t have a spray bottle).
Caution: Using dish soap on your car’s exterior can damage it over time by ruining it’s protective wax. (Source) However, if you use it once in a while to remove bird droppings, it should be totally fine to use.
STEP 4- Use a hose to rinse away the droppings or pour a bucket of water to rinse them.
STEP 5- If there is any trace of the droppings left behind, use a damp microfiber towel to wipe in a single wipe.
STEP 6- It is totally up to you if you want to manually dry the surface. Otherwise, it will dry on its own.
#2- Using Shampoo
STEP 1- Simply fill a spray bottle with warm water (preferably distilled, undistilled is fine too). Add a few drops of any pH neutral shampoo in it. Mix the solution well.
STEP 2- Spray the solution with sharp pressure over the droppings generously as if you were trying to flush them away.
STEP 3- Finally, wash the surface with a hose (if you have access to one) or a bottle of water and wipe the surface dry with a microfiber towel.
#3- Using Baking soda
Baking soda can weaken the bird poop stain.
STEP 1- Pour hot water on the dried bird poop.
STEP 2- After 1 minute, sprinkle baking soda over the droppings and let it sit for 10 minutes.
STEP 3- The poop will soften and will easily be washed away with running water (using a hose).
STEP 4- For any remaining dried poop (if any), you can either use a blower to blow away the poop dust or use a damp microfiber towel to dab at the remaining stain. This step will remove any lingering bird poop stain.
#4- Using Bird Stain Remover Sprays
These removers are specifically designed without using abrasives ingredients which makes them gentle on the car paint or polish. You should use these removers (or WD-40) if the stains are deeply set in because the simple remedies might not work fully in those cases.
If you have time on hand and you want to be extra careful, you may try the solution on an inconspicuous part of the car paint to see the effect.
STEP 1- Spray the solution directly over the droppings while fully saturating them. With your other hand, keep a damp microfiber towel directly under the poop stain so as not to waste any liquid that drips down (in case the droppings are on a side of the car). If the droppings are on the car roof, then you don’t need to have a microfiber in your other hand.
STEP 2- The poop will start to dissolve instantly. Let the solution do its work for 30-45 seconds.
STEP 3- With the damp microfiber cloth you are holding, wipe away the droppings in a single wipe (or more if need be). If you need to wipe more, make sure to fold the cloth to a clean side so as not to rub the caught droppings again on the car paint.
STEP 4- Now you can use a hose to rinse the surface with running water. This is an optional step that in many cases it won’t be needed.
STEP 5- You should be fine with only a single application but occasionally long-baked (by the sun) bird poop may require you to repeat the process a second time.
#5- Using Club soda/Carbonated Water
Club soda makes the bird poop break up by carbonization. (Source) Just make sure that you use regular unflavoured/unsweetened club soda because sugar and flavors will leave their own stains on the surface.
STEP 1- Pour a little club soda over the dried droppings and let it sit for 1 minute. This will soften the poop which can be wiped away with a microfiber towel
STEP 2- Finally, rinse the glass window or shield with a running hose.
If you are concerned about bird droppings while you are on the go, you should always keep a spray solution of these bird stain removers and a microfiber cloth in your car.
A Word of Caution!
One can get sick from cleaning bird poop if adequate precaution is ignored. Salmonella, a bacteria that can cause diarrhea, is present in bird droppings.
You should be careful when cleaning bird poop. Wear gloves while cleaning it off and also wash your hands thoroughly after coming in contact with the droppings.
Final Thoughts!
Cleaning bird poop from your vehicle’s body or windshield or windows is not a herculean task. You just need simple things like hot water, microfiber cloth, bird stain remover, etc to get the job done.
