Thread: Paintwork stains from mud and bird poo

Polish or buff it off.

But anything you leave for a long period of time will eventually eat right into the paintwork, sometimes to the point it can't be buffed out.

Always wash bird poo off ASAP, it's highly acidic and ruins paint.

And keep your car waxed, at least 6-monthly.

Don't rub too hard.
If it has stuck, then just try to gradually soften it with water,...just keep trying to get the water soaked in, and with reasonably gentle rubbing, it will come off.
If that fails, soak it with eucalyptus oil, which should get it off.
After you've removed it, polish the aflicted area to give it a bit of protection.
Unfortunately there aren't any waxes/polishes on the market that give any real protection against bird poo if it's been on a while specially on a hot day.
The only real remedy is to remove it as soon as it's dropped!!
I got a bird poo hit on Gracie's bonnet recently, and although she's regularly polished, and I got to it within a couple of hours, it took a while to properly remove it without trace,...gently gently is the way.
Pickles.

Had some mud stains from my recent High Country trip that didn't come off after pressure washing recently.

Left it out in the recent Sydney rains, and it's now all gone.

Originally Posted by Pickles2

Don't rub too hard.

I got a bird poo hit on Gracie's bonnet recently, and although she's regularly polished, and I got to it within a couple of hours, it took a while to properly remove it without trace,...gently gently is the way.
Pickles.

Absolutely. Less is more.

MyD4 is also Fuji White. It cops its fair share of red mud & dust (particularly from iron ore mine site visits occasionally) and bird poop if I leave it parked under the trees out the back yard. I've tried a couple of different products for cleaning / polishing / protection and have settled on these.



For cleaning off any marks from the paintwork (including bird poo stains), RePo Paint Doctor is the best I've found. Have tried Meguires and Auto Glym similar offerings, and found them not to be as good as this one.



For polishing - any of the Auto Glym polishes (they have a few different types). I've found this one easy to apply and to buff off, and it leaves a good finish.



For protection - can't beat Auto Glym Extra Gloss Protection. Easily applied as a clear liquid and dries as a white "haze" - and then buff it off. It uses "nano technology" to apply a fine protective coating to your paint and polish (a bit like "heavy duty" rainex).

I've found that about once a year for the polish and protection is plenty. I've just done mine again last week - the last time it was all done was nearly two years ago. The roof and bonnet definitely needed doing again, but came up well with only a light polishing and buffing. The sides and rear end didn't really need doing at all, but I did the whole vehicle anyway.

All glass is done with "NanoKote" (very similar to Rainex but lasts a hell of a lot longer between applications), and black plastic / rubber trim is done with Auto Glym Bumper & Trim Protection.

Looks all nice and clean now and ready to head off to Tassie again in a few days time.

Take it out in the bush, scratch it and pinstripe it and then after a while you don't care anymore

Wax wax wax. Polish is not wax cleaner wax is not wax you need to use wax it's hard work but the finish is excellent. The other thing to remember is polish is harmful to paint so you don't want to buff your car too often wax prevents this

Thanks so much for the replies everyone. Sorry I never came back but I was away for the weekend then got busy with work. Some really good tips in this thread.

Just a tad disappointed that an $85k+ car is so susceptible to poop stains smudging in the act of wiping it off. I now can't get the smudges off with water / vigourous scrubbing, so I'll try some of the products BMKal has recommended. My Honda Jazz doesn't drive ANYWHERE near as nice as the D4, but at least the poop stains come off easily.