Not only is bird poop a gross eyesore on your car, but it can also be very damaging to the paint on your car.
Bird poop is unfortunately common if you often park your car near where birds like to perch.
Sometimes, however, under that perching bird is the only place that we can park our car.
If you find yourself in this situation, don’t worry.
We have done some research to find out how to clean bird poop off of your car.
Continue reading to see what items you need to clean bird poop off of your car successfully.
What You’ll Need
- WD-40 — Order Here
- Garden hose
- Baking soda — Order Here
- Dish soap — Order Here
- Microfiber Cleaning Cloth — Order Here
- Hot water
- Spray bottle
- Seltzer water or club soda — Order Here
Now that you’ve assembled all the items that you need to remove bird poop from your car, continue reading for the step-by-step instructions.
1. Spray WD-40 On Bird Poop
An easy way to get rid of bird poop from your car is to use WD-40.
Spray your WD-40 onto your vehicle, where the bird poop is.
By spraying the WD-40 on the bird poop, you are beginning to loosen the bird poop that threatens your car’s paint job.
You may need to let the WD-40 sit for a couple of minutes to ensure that it has penetrated the bird poop enough for it to be loosened and easily sprayed off with a spray from the garden hose.
2. Rinse Affected Area With Hose
Once you have sprayed the WD-40 on the bird poop, you can use a garden hose to spray off the stain.
Doing this allows you not to have to clean off a cloth or get your hands dirty in removing the bird poop.
Please ensure that you have thoroughly rinsed off and removed all of the WD-40 from the paint of your car.
The oils will collect dirt and dust, effectively making your car dirty just in a different way.
It would also be best to keep the car in the shade, just in case the mixture of the sun and ingredients of WD-40 together cause damage to your car.
3. Create Baking Soda And Dish Soap Mix
If the bird poop remains after using the WD-40, you can create a different mixture to address the bird poop on the car.
Mix about two tablespoons of baking soda, a small squirt of dish soap, and enough hot water to make the mixture liquid enough to be able to spray out of a spray bottle.
Pour the mixture into the spray bottle.
4. Spray Mixture On Bird Poop
Using the spray bottle filled with baking soda, dish soap, and water mix, spray the bird poop.
5. Let Mixture Sit
Allow the mixture to sit on the bird poop for at least 10 minutes to do its job well.
Letting it sit will allow the mixture to penetrate and break down the bird poop.
6. Rinse With Hose
Once 10 minutes have passed, use the garden hose again.
Rinse off the bird poop and cleaning mixture from the car with the water from the garden hose.
7. Splash Poop With Seltzer Water or Club Soda
If the bird poop is quite stubborn and remains, there are still options that don’t require purchasing specific cleaners or going to the carwash.
Take either some seltzer water or club soda and splash it onto the bird poop.
8. Let Soak
Allow for the seltzer water or club soda to soak into the remaining bird poop.
Let it sit for a few minutes so that the carbonation can help break down the acidic qualities of the bird poop.
9. Wipe Clean
Using the microfiber cloth, gently wipe off the remaining bird poop from the paint.
I recommend these MR.SIGA Microfiber Cleaning Cloth, Pack of 12 that I found on Amazon.
It is essential to be gentle, and if you are not delicate enough, you may end up scratching your paint as the bird poop itself can be abrasive.
Please make sure that you don’t use paper towels to wipe.
They can scratch the paint without any help from the poop.
If the bird poop has been on there a long time or is particularly stubborn, consider leaving the microfiber cloth to sit on the bird poop for about 15 minutes to dislodge what might remain.
Video Instructions
The video below shows the methods listed above to show you how to remove bird poop from your car, as well as a couple of different ways that require purchasing store-bought chemicals.
- Step 1 (:16) — Spray WD-40
- Step 2 (:27) — Rinse with hose
- Step 3 (:45) — Create mixture
- Step 4 (:49) — Spray mixture
- Step 5 (:53) — Let soak
- Step 6 (:55) — Rinse with hose
- Step 7 (2:15) — Splash with seltzer water/club soda
- Step 8 (2:17) — Let soak
- Step 9 (2:22) — Wipe clean
FAQ
Why Is Bird Poop Bad For My Car?
Besides the visually unappealing of having a bird poop on your car, that is not the only reason to get bird poop off your car as soon as you can.
First, the bird poop contains rocks.
Why, you may ask?
Birds eat rocks as a part of their diet to help with digestion.
They do not digest the rocks; therefore, they come out in their poop.
Beyond the rocks, their poop also contains acid.
When the birds’ poop sits on your car and your car sits in the sun, it will begin to etch into the paint.
The process of the acid of the poop sitting on your vehicle in the sun will cause permanent damage to your paint.
Why Does Carbonated Waters Help Clean Off Bird Poop?
The carbonation of the seltzer water and club soda works to break down the acidity of the birth poop.
The carbonation bubbles react with the acids and then cause them to break down.
It is essential to not just any carbonated liquid, as drinks, such as sodas, have flavorings, sugar, and dyes that further damage the paint.
Baking soda functions in the same way by reacting to the acidity of the bird poop, which helps to loosen it up and remove it from the paint.
Will The WD-40 Harm My Car’s Paint?
Because of all of the ingredients in WD-40, the combination is safe to apply to your car’s paint.
The caveat is that you want to make sure to rinse off all of the WD-40 as it should not just sit on your car paint.
In addition, due to the oils in the WD-40, it is best to entirely remove them so that they do not collect debris or dirt and cause your car to become dirty in those spots.
How Long Can You Leave Bird Poop On Your Car?
As a whole, most paint is damaged by bird poop within 48 hours of exposure.
The bird poop will fracture on the paint, causing them to bond together.
Because of this, it’s much easier to remove bird poop from your car if you find it and start the removal process before the 48-hour mark.
