Gone to the Birds: How to Protect Your Car from Bird Poop
By John Funk, August 13, 2020
Parking under the shade of a tree sounds like a good idea, until you start seeing bird droppings on your car! Honestly, this is not only annoying: It can be a serious problem if not properly taken care of, so don’t take it lightly. Bird poop is highly acidic, so it can easily ruin your car’s finish over time. You wouldn’t want to find yourself in that messy situation, right?
But what if you do? Do you know how to protect your car from bird poop, or do you have to learn – and hopefully not the hard way? Whatever your circumstances may be, here are some things that can help you avoid the problems associated with this issue.
How Does Bird Poop Ruin Your Car’s Finish?
To understand how bird droppings can cause considerable damage to your car’s exterior finish, you need to realize that things expand when heated and contract when cooled. The same principle applies to car paints. During the day, when temperatures reach their highest, your car’s paint expands. At nighttime, temperatures drop, causing the paint and clear coat to contract. It’s a never-ending cycle, and unless your car is parked in a perfectly climate-controlled environment, it’s natural and expected.
Now, imagine what happens if you don’t remove pesky bird excrement from your car. As the paint expands during the day, bird poop, which is highly acidic (pH range between 3.5 and 4.5, equivalent to extreme acid rain), manages to seep into the finish. The area around the bird droppings will then contract as the temperature goes down. If you allow this cycle to go on, its uric acid component will seep deeper into your car’s finish, burning and etching the car’s surface and leaving a dull, ugly, textured paint surface in its wake.
Since bird excrement is composed of highly toxic stuff, the damage begins as soon as it hits. With its highly acidic nature, it can easily burn the top coat within hours. Even plastic trims, vinyl wraps, and paint protection films (PPF) are no match to its extremely acidic nature.
Cleaning Bird Poop Off Your Car
The longer these bird bombs remain on the surface of your car, the more damage they can do. And since they tend to bake and harden under the heat of the sun, leaving your car out in the open for extended periods of time will inevitably make the problem worse.
The solution: Remove bird poop as soon as you see it, but do so without damaging your ride’s paintwork and clear coat. Bird excrement can be extremely sticky and tricky to remove. You’ll need to break down the uric acid content first before you can safely wipe off the mess.
Which cleaning products should you use? Here are some that are perfectly suitable for this purpose.
- Baking soda. Dissolve four tablespoons of baking soda in 32 ounces of warm water and spray it on the affected areas. Allow the solution to soak for five to ten minutes, rinse off with a hose, and proceed to wash your car as recommended.
- WD-40. When using WD-40 for cleaning the mess, park your car in a shaded area, away from direct sunlight. Spray affected areas, let the lubricant work its magic for about a minute or so, and gently wipe away with a microfiber cloth or a clean, damp cloth. Use an automotive soap to remove any remaining residue.
- Quick detail spray. While there may be a lot of available options, choose products that are compatible with the surface you are going to use them for.
- Car wipes. Some manufacturers offer specialty products such as these for removing dried up bird droppings. Check them out and see if they’ll work for you.
How to Avoid Bird Bomb Issues
- Choose where to park. Parking your car under a tree, light post, or telephone wires increases the likelihood that our feathered friends will dump their waste on your car. They also love hanging out near the edge of a building and near dumpsters, so avoid these spots or you’ll find your hood, windows, and windshield splattered with hard-to-clean bird poop.
- Chase them away with a simple device. Birds tend to shy away from the sun’s reflection, so use it to your advantage. Simply take a few old compact discs, arrange them in a pyramid shape, and attach a strong magnet (like a stereo speaker magnet) on the base of the structure. Place it on top of your car when you park to keep the birds away from the area. For best results, make sure the reflective sides are facing out.
- Invest in a high-quality car cover. You can avoid a lot of headaches and save money in the process by investing in a high-quality car cover. By using a car cover, your vehicle will be protected against these pesky birds and their toxic droppings. Moreover, it will give you the protection you need to minimize the damaging effects of the sun, acid rain, tree sap, dust, dirt, bugs, and other pests on your paintwork. Bird droppings are extremely effective in ruining your car’s paint so beware! Use a proper cover for your car to keep bird poop from wreaking havoc on your paint finish.
How to Protect Your Car from Bird Poop? Cover It Up!
If you want to get the protection your car deserves, don’t go for anything less than a Seal Skin car cover. All of our car covers are made with quality, durability, and affordability in mind so you can be sure that you are getting more than what you paid for every time you buy our products. We guarantee that you'll receive your cover free of defects and as advertised or we'll exchange that cover out at no additional cost to you.
If you want to ask some questions about our products, exchange, and refund policies before making a purchase, please call us at 800-915-0038 during our office hours (Monday to Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST). We can help you find the right cover for your car so give us a call today!
