Just returned from 10 days of vacation and noticed a half inch size of bird poop on the hood. Rinsed off the poop and washed the car. I can still see a dull spot on the finish where the bird poop was located. Is the clear coat damaged or is there a prefered method of restoring the shine?
It's entirely possible it ate right through the clear coat. I've had that happen. Bird poop is nasty stuff. It's usually got little rocks hidden in it, too, so don't ever just wipe it off or you'll scratch the finish.
Get Thee to a detailer! A few months back, on my brand new vehicle I discovered a rather large bird dropping that had landed on the clearbra of my front hood. Now I know the comparisons aren't exact....because this did hit clearbra...but in my case I know the dropping wasn't on the vehicle for more than just a few hours at most...and I immediately and carefully washed the front hood to remove the dropping. I too was left with a ghost impression. Rather severe. I immediately scoured the internet for advice. What I discovered is that bird droppings can be severely damaging. Depending on what the little passerine destroyer has been dining on...acidic berrys, worms..whatever...the Poop Bomb can be incredibly damaging. I found advice as wide ranging as clean it off...and leave it alone...to let the sun and time fade it away...to clean immediately with a high quality cleaner wax. I tried cleaner wax...Meguiars..and it only made the dull spot...shiner... It looked horrible. With visions of total hood repainting, I took it to the detailer that installed the clearbra..(which had a warranty)...and they were nice enough to take it back and use all their chemicals and orbital buffing skills to try and reverse the damage. To be honest, even after their work on it...I could still see the outline in certain light and at certain angles. BUT...some of the advice I found was to clean it as well as possible..neutralize the acid by using some Dawn...and just let it be for a couple of weeks. So anyway...I waited. Thinking either it would get better OR I'd have to decide how much it bothered me and whether I wanted to repaint or not. I'd report that after having it removed as thoroughly as possible by a skilled detailer and after a few weeks- it is now completely gone. I can't honestly tell you if perhaps if I had just cleaned it well, and let it be if it wouldn't of faded by itself...but I think removal by a detailer who knows his/her business really helped save my hood and at the very least sped up the process and time before it looked good again. PS. I second the advice above. In my research I found numerous warnings about potential scratch creating elements being in the bird doodie...so you want to remove it as carefully as possible. Before I did anything using friction...wax or polish...I sprayed liberally with car wash soap and simply, patiently- let water pressure lift it up..float it away.
It took me a few years to figure out that my dad wasn't nuts when he got so upset over bird poop. He wouldn't leave the driveway or the parking lot without cleaning off the poop.
OP: I went to Walmart and found an inexpensive car cover for about $25. It would work great for bird mishaps if you had to leave your car parked outside for long periods. But be sure to cut the aerial hole where it needs to be in the cover as mine got a bit warped by not making the pass-thru hole. BTW, the one for the Prius is a very snug fit but worth the money, IMO. I use mine in the north country where pine tree sap can drip on the finish. It too is very difficult to remove.
Mine is left mostly outside, so after 6 months of ownership, I simply clean it off as soon as I see the droppings and try not to fret over the little things. I've got the sandy beach color, so the defecation remnants aren't as visible as they'd be on a darker car (like Greg's).
Last winter, one day I went out to my Prius and found it covered all over with the bird poop. Took it to the car wash, but the guy wasn't able to fully remove it even with his jet spray. He told me that was there to stay But one heavy snowfall and scraping it off later the car seemed to be fully restored. I don't squint at the finish and stuff, but for all casual appearances, its back to looking good. I guess the fine snow was very effective at scraping the dry poop coats off without damaging the finish. I guess if the poop was acidic or something that could chemically alter the clearcoat I wouldn't be so lucky (anyway, I haven't scrutinized it).
Thanks for all the input. The car was garaged for the 10 days I was gone, just did not notice it before leaving. I removed the poop by spraying with a hose, I knew better than trying to rub it off. The spot is up near the windshield and not on the clear bra. I know I have completely cleaned the area so I'm tempted to wait a few weeks and see how it looks then. Sounds like it might be permanent damage....
It probably didn't eat through the clear coat but marred the coating, in which case you need some kind of abrasive to remove the marring. Try NuFinish Scratch Doctor first and if you need something stronger, Zaino Z-PC Fusion (but use Scratch Doctor after again after using Z-PC as it doesn't finish clean and will introduce hazing of its own until you remove the hazing). Keep a bottle of 50% isopropanol (diluted with double distilled water) in the car and spray any fresh bird droppings that you see to neutralize the acid and clean off immediately. Don't ever let them sit for any length of time. Even if you don't have the right tools to clean off, get it off with whatever you have. Any scratches caused by sand in the dropping will be far easier to repair than marring to the clear coat.
