Bird dropping blemish

[frogdare]

I’m surprised how short a time is needed before a bird dropping can leave a blemish on paintwork. It was on my bonnet for a maximum of 3 hours.

I washed it off and polished the area and it now feels smooth but in certain light and angle you can still see where the dropping was.

The question is what can I do about it. The paint is a metallic finish. I’m wary of just rubbing away at it in case I make it worse.

Any advice please?

[prc68]

What type polish were you using? A light polish might not do it. I try to get bird dropping right off, but if I miss it and it's on the car for a long time I will normally go to a heavier polish (In my case chemical brothers V36).

[frogdare]

prc68, thanks for prompt reply. I used Auto Glym Super Resin Polish.

Perhaps I need to go for something stronger.

[Turbodave]

A slightly more abrasive cutting compound may be needed (not T-Cut!) to polish out the park, then a coat of finishing polish on top... or it if bad then perhaps a machine polish and if it's really bad, crack out the wet and dry!

[prc68]

Yeah, you need something with a bit more cut.
IIRC, super resin is more of a chemical cleaner and really light cutting action.
You might try their scratch remover. Avoid going with something too heavy. A swirl mark remover (which is normally light to medium cut) might do the trick.

Good luck,
Paulo

[Whippy]

Honestly, I'd leave it for now, it's that time of year, get the residue off, clean and treat with AG resin, then at end of the season take a look and see what needs doing.

[canis]

Originally Posted by Turbodave

A slightly more abrasive cutting compound may be needed (not T-Cut!) to polish out the park, then a coat of finishing polish on top... or it if bad then perhaps a machine polish and if it's really bad, crack out the wet and dry!

What's wrong with T-Cut?

[prc68]

Not sure T-cut is an issue, just overkill for bird droppings. You should always try using the least abrasive compound/pad required.

[KerPLoD]

T-cut isn't particularly awful, it's just that it's kind of outdated now by more effective compound polishes.

[St Evelyn]

There was a big thread about bird droppings on detailing world a few years ago that had a link to a document created by autoglym explaining that the best way to remove the stain is actually to heat the area then allow it to cool. Turns out they ascertained that the stain is not the result of acid eating in to the paint and requiring polishing, but actually caused by the paint under the mess cooling at a different rate to the panel around it. By heating the whole area and allowing it to cool the stain would be removed without the need for polishing.

Sadly the autoglym page got so many hits they pulled the doc from their website - may be back now though as I've not looked for it for a few years.

So, my suggestion would be to get a hairdryer on it before trying to polish it out - sounds like an old wives tale but plenty of pro detailers seemed to get it to work.