Bird Poo "Etching" Removal with Hairdryer

[FJ1000]

Hi All

The Golf had 2 bird poos on the car that had sat there for a couple of days. After washing the car, there were obvious marks left behind. I clayed the area and then took these pics:





You can see they look pretty bad.

Now, if the surface was truly etched, the only way to remove these marks would be with a polish. However, I recall reading a post on the RS246 forum that said the marks actually come from the lacquer under the bird mess expanding and contracting differently to the surrounding area, and that all that was needed was a hairdryer.

It's not a very powerful hairdryer, but I started a couple of inches away and after a few minutes not much had happened, so I took it in till the hairdryer was basically sitting on a cushion of air practically next to the surface.



Well, it didn't take long to see a significant improvement:



After a couple more minutes, it had practically gone - I could barely believe it actually worked! Although the mark is still there if you look very closely it is barely noticeable. What a result!







This seems to give credibility to the idea that the bird poo doesn't etch the surface at all - so no need to start removing lacquer with a polish. Give the hairdryer a go!

Finished off the job with a top up coat of jetseal, and the car's looking good again!



Some good reading here:

http://www.autoglym.com/news_articles/new-research-dispels-myth-of-why-bird-droppings-damage-paint

[shail]

Great tip.  I've got one on my door.
Now.... Just got to smuggle the Mrs hairdrier out the house without her noticing!

[r5gtt]

Great tip.  I've got one on my door.
Now.... Just got to smuggle the Mrs hairdrier out the house without her noticing!

I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you say it's for the lI've of your life 

[RetroRaz]

Nice, i used meguiars cleaner wax on my bird poop stains, came out straight away

Sent from my SM-G928F using Tapatalk

[Chris92]

Nice little tip that, have never seen that I normally get the polish out but will try this next time.

Cheers 

[r5gtt]

too much effort for a hairdryer as I use asda baby wipes 

[FJ1000]

Nice, i used meguiars cleaner wax on my bird poop stains, came out straight away

Sent from my SM-G928F using Tapatalk

Hey mate, maybe you misunderstand - the first pics are after all the bird poo has been removed!

What remains are marks in the lacquer of the paint - wax won't do anything there I'm afraid. The surface actually looks etched.

Normal approach is to polish off (and thus remove some lacquer. But it seems a bit of heat cures the imperfections in the lacquer.

[RetroRaz]

Nice, i used meguiars cleaner wax on my bird poop stains, came out straight away

Sent from my SM-G928F using Tapatalk

Hey mate, maybe you misunderstand - the first pics are after all the bird poo has been removed!

What remains are marks in the lacquer of the paint - wax won't do anything there I'm afraid. The surface actually looks etched.

Normal approach is to polish off (and thus remove some lacquer. But it seems a bit of heat cures the imperfections in the lacquer.

I had the exact same etching in the laqcuer on my bonnet after i cleaned it off, i was really pissed off as i just had it sprayed a few months back. The meguiars cleaner wax took it right out.

Sent from my SM-G928F using Tapatalk

[Deako]

I wouldn't wipe any bird poo off like that. I'd leave a microfibre soaked in citrus prewash on it for 10-15 to soften then jet wash off.

[xjay1337]

I would strongly advise against using a hair dryer. It can go horribly wrong.
Machine polish the area , as you say it's due to contracting of the material usually in direct sunlight or hot weather but you risk burning the paint doing this.
Of course as we have seen it does "work" but it can mess up haha.

[FJ1000]

I would strongly advise against using a hair dryer. It can go horribly wrong.
Machine polish the area , as you say it's due to contracting of the material usually in direct sunlight or hot weather but you risk burning the paint doing this.
Of course as we have seen it does "work" but it can mess up haha.

Just to point out machine polishing can go horribly wrong too!

As with anything, make your own decision on the approach you take, but be careful either way!

Having shared this on a couple of forums, seems some detailers use this same approach, but with heat guns.

Personally, I'm glad I didn't polish, as I think it's important to preserve the lacquer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[xjay1337]

I would strongly advise against using a hair dryer. It can go horribly wrong.
Machine polish the area , as you say it's due to contracting of the material usually in direct sunlight or hot weather but you risk burning the paint doing this.
Of course as we have seen it does "work" but it can mess up haha.

Just to point out machine polishing can go horribly wrong too!

As with anything, make your own decision on the approach you take, but be careful either way!

Having shared this on a couple of forums, seems some detailers use this same approach, but with heat guns.

Personally, I'm glad I didn't polish, as I think it's important to preserve the lacquer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agreed, there are risks to both.    As long as you aren't an idiot you wouldn't burn through, you usually have about 30-35 microns of lacquer to play with as a guess and you would remove between 2 and 5 microns of paint using an aggressive cut and then multiple stage refinement.
Where as if you let me loose with a heat gun my own hair would be on fire in a matter of seconds 
I certainly have read of the method but haven't tried or seen the results until now. Be interesting to see if the results are permanent or if the etching comes back in a month or so! 

[strell]

That is pretty impressive to see it done.
Would be interesting to know how long it would take for a hair dryer to burn the paint. Must be a long time surely?

[molineux1980]

Good tip, i'll give that a try!