Stopping the Droppings: How to Prevent and Remove Pesky Poop on Your Car

There’s nothing more frustrating than taking your freshly washed car for an outing only to have it degraded by a bird in the most inconvenient manner. Poop – whether wet or dry, it’s never a fun sight seeing it on your car, and it can be a tricky task to clean. Neither are those pesky bugs that become impacted onto your windscreen and front of your car while driving. These things can also be quite damaging to windscreens and paintwork, so they require proper cleaning – let’s discuss.

Knowing how to properly clean your car is a surprisingly important part of maintaining your beloved vehicle. Correct cleaning procedures will not only keep your car looking its best but will also prevent damage from potential excrements. So why is there a specific way you should clean your car? You may think removing bird poop and bug splatters from your car is a straightforward process not requiring careful thought, but improper cleaning techniques can actually lead to more damage. Thankfully, there are multiple safe methods to remove bugs and bird poop from your car.

Prevention is Key

While there’s no way to completely avoid getting pooped on or driving into a swarm of bugs, there are some easy steps you can take to minimise the chance of these things happening. To avoid droppings, try to adopt the habit of checking the ground where you parked for bird droppings. This is a sign that maybe you should park elsewhere. Also, to prep your car for the easy removal of bugs and poop, waxing your car often will help protect the exterior while also giving your car a nice shine. The thin added layer of wax will make water (as well as other materials) slip off a lot easier. Regular waxing will also slow the acid seeping into the paint, make removal easier, and may prevent you from having to see a professional to get any stains buffed out. It’s a win-win!

Now, for the fun part… bird poop removal. Firstly, there are some things you should straight up avoid.

• Avoid using sponges and towels: Whilst you may think sponges and towels are gentle enough to lead the car stain removal revolution, they can actually cause damage to your car. As they’re not ideally designed to use on car surfaces, keep these items inside your home, and make the switch to microfibre cloths. Designed with gentle stain removal in mind, these cloths are much softer and will not scrape your car’s glass or paint.
• Holt the windshield wipers: Whilst everyone knows windshield wipers hold their place as the primary windshield cleaners, using them on bird droppings or bugs will damage the wipers, spread dirt around the glass and may even scratch the glass. To save your car a potential glass repair, we recommend holding off on using windshield wipers in these instances.
• If it’s dried, don’t scratch: As bird droppings, in particular, harden over time, removing them can be difficult. Scratching away droppings, whether it be with tools and gloved hands may seem like the right method, but it can damage your glass as you scratch away, and is another glass repair waiting to happen.

Now We’ve Covered What Not to do, Here’s What You Should do Instead:

Bird Dropping Removal

If your car is under constant attack of being an aviary-porter potty, these tips will equip you with the right knowledge on how to correctly tackle this problem. Being acidic in nature, bird droppings are not only unsightly, but they can also corrode your car’s paint.  In fact, bird poop is one of the most common causes of auto paint damage. Thankfully, however, there are certain products designed to make its removal easier. Here’s what you’ll need:

• WD-40 or baking soda and water solution
• A microfibre cloth

Method:

1. With the help of your microfibre cloth, oils such as WD-40 will help in softening the bird droppings, easing their removal. Simply spray WD-40 on the area, let it rest for 60 seconds, then rinse and wipe away the poop with a clean microfiber cloth. 
2. If you don’t have any WD-40 on hand, baking soda and hot water is an alternative trick. In a spray bottle, mix 2 tablespoons of baking soda and warm water and spritz onto the dropping and leave to soak for 10 minutes. Rinse with a hose and wipe away the poop – repeat again to remove any remnants.

Bird Poop Car Wipes

For when you’re on the go but a bird needs to “go” on your car, thankfully special wipes exist to deal with this frustrating problem. Specialty products like Autoglym bird dropping wipes are great to keep on hand for when you’re on the go and need a quick solution. Simply place the wipe on the dropping allowing the solution to soften the poop before removal (avoiding any rubbing or scratching), then remove with a wipe and dispose of the soiled wipe. 

What if I Left the Stains Too Long?

Our simple advice is to not let this happen. If you have a little time, do make an effort to remove the bird poop. It’s an annoying process but saves you so much money and grievance later on. If you don’t get a chance to quickly remove droppings and you later notice cracking in the paint surface, unfortunately, there aren’t any products or service that can reverse this damage. In this case, you may have to book into your local panel store to ask about solutions; you may get away with a polish or have to look at respraying the area. For matte-finish cars, the damage from bird droppings is worse and will require the panels to be resprayed as they can’t be repolished. So, act with haste when you first notice those pesky droppings!

Bug Removal

Another issue that bugs many people is having to deal with bug removal. Taking to the wide-open road in a fast car is fun; however, the bugs that hitchhike their way onto your car throughout this journey are not. Getting them off is even less fun, but it must be done. Like droppings, bugs also tend to be acidic and strip your clear coat and paint. The longer they stay on, the more damage they’ll cause – especially if you have a dark car where the heat can exacerbate corrosion.

Removing bugs, thankfully, doesn’t take any special solution or trick to remove bugs from paintwork – just a microfibre cloth and some water. If you’ve been keeping up with your spray-on wax, then you won’t have too much trouble getting them off. On glass, it’s a little different. It’s best to use a window cleaner for bug removal to avoid smudges. You can use a dedicated bug sponge if they’re really dried down, or just a paper towel. Make sure you’re working delicately to avoid any scratches or damage to your windscreen.

When The Damage is Done

Removed the poop and the bugs but still seeing issues with your windscreen? Windex may not be enough in this case. Just like other parts of a car, windscreens sometimes deteriorate and degrade – however, getting them changed is a top priority. If you’re thinking your windscreen has been better days, book a service with a windscreen tech for some professional advice. The team at Novus Autoglass always aim to repair when they can, and repairs and replacements are covered for the lifetime of your windscreen.

Novus Autoglass are trusted leaders of windscreen repair and replacement. We use the latest technology and products to provide high-quality service. Check out our list of services we provide and book your next appointment with us by calling 13 22 34.