Bird Poo from Hood

[E46007]

I recently tried removing bird poo from the hood of my BMW with Scratch X, No. 7 followed by No. 26. No luck. It appears to have etched the clear coat. Any suggestions. Thx

[Power man]

Make some more passes with ScratchX until you have your desired results.

[Mike Phillips]

Hi E46007,

I've removed the etching left in the paint by a bird dropping many times in front of huge crowds at our Saturday detailing classes and when people watch how to properly apply ScratchX with the intent on removing paint, the people that have been using ScratchX but not getting good results usually make comments like,

That's what I was doing wrong"


In most cases, the paint on your car will be harder than the paint that came on a 1967 Mustang and what this means is that you and I have a more difficult time removing the defects because removing these types of defects means removing the paint that surrounds the defect and if modern paints are harder, versus softer compared to older style paints, then this means removing small particles of paint is going to be harder or more difficult not easy.



Let's start you out by reading these,

What it means to remove a scratch out of anything...


In order to remove a scratch out of anything, metal, plastic glass, paint, etc. You must remove material around the scratch until the surface is level or equal to the lowest depths of the scratch or scratches.

The below diagram if for paint, the the same thing applies to just about an surface material or coating.



In essences, you don't really remove a scratch, you remove material around a scratch.

Then the big question is, is the material or coating workable, as in can you abrade small particles of it and leave behind an original looking surface. For example, some things you can abrade, (remove the scratch), but you can never completely remove all of your abrading marks, thus you can't really fix the problem, all you can do is exchange one set of scratches of a different set of scratches.

The next questions is, how thick is the surface material you're working on or the coating. You are limited to what you can do by the thickness of these to things, (surface coating or surface material), and whether or not this surface is workable.

Sometimes you don't know what you can so until you try. It's always a good idea to test your choice of products, applicator materials and application process, (By hand or by machine), to an inconspicuous area. If you cannot make a small area look good with your product, applicator and process, you will not be able to make the entire surface look good. It's always a good idea to test first and error on the side of caution, versus make a mistake you cannot undo.

[Mike Phillips]

And this one, note the huge etching left in the Viper Clear coat was very deep and in all my experience, Viper clears are very, very hard... yet we got out about 95% of it by hand with three well worked in applications and about 30 people watching the entire process.

How to use ScratchX by hand to remove defects like these,

1. Scratches
2. Swirls
3. Bird Dropping Etchings
4. Water spots
5. Scuff and Mars

++ = Success!

A couple of important notes to consider,

1) Clear coats are harder than traditional paints. This means they are more difficult to remove defects out of, especially by hand. This is part explains the increase in popularity of the Porter Cable Dual Action Polisher.

2) ScratchX is not a wipe-on, wipe-off product, (WOWO), it's more of a wipe on, work in product, (WOWI). You need to apply with a clean foam applicator pad and work the product in with a little passion.




Here is how to remove a bird dropping etching or an isolated scratch.[list=1][*] Only work a small area at a time - about 6 inch by 6 inch area or smaller[*] You can apply using a combination of circular motions and straight-line motions[*] Work the product against the finish until it looks as you have almost run out of product.[*] Re-apply the product and repeat the above steps 2-3 more times[/list=1]
When I apply ScratchX like I have listed above, I am able to get out about 95% of a bird dropping etching or isolated random scratches.

The trick is to work the product in until it just begins to disappear and to apply more than one application. You see, the ScratchX, like all Meguiar's Paint Cleaners, contain a diminishing abrasive, as you work ScratchX in, the microscopic diminishing abrasives gently abrade the surface removing small particles of paint. But as you work it in, these diminishing abrasives breakdown. Thus, they quit abrading the finish and actually polish the finish to a clear, high gloss. This diminishing action turned polishing action is a benefit to you because it enable you to work out defects without leaving scratches behind.

Because the diminishing abrasive breakdown, you need to re-apply and repeat the process until the defects are removed.

Note: You can rarely remove a bird dropping etching, or a scratch, from a clear-coated finish with one application.

"A little technique goes a long way"

ScratchX works, if you work it. It takes a little practice to get the hang of removing defects out of modern clear coats with hi-tech products like ScratchX. It' not like the old days with a traditional lacquer or enamel paint job where you could apply some old-fashioned rubbing compound and in a few passes, the scratch would be gone, (and so would a lot of your paint).

High gloss clear coats are thin delicate surface coatings that are easily dulled and easily scratched. Once they are dulled down and/or scratched, it takes the right product, the right technique together with the human element of care and passion to massage them back to a glistening gemstone.

Have patience, and if at first you don't succeed, try try again.

Mike

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Power man
Make some more passes with ScratchX until you have your desired results.

I need to learn the art of writing short answers....

[Power man]

Originally posted by Mike Phillips
I need to learn the art of writing short answers....

If I had a little more time and my english would be a little better, I would write probably also longer answers.

[E46007]

Worth a try

Thx for the response. I'll give it a try. How should I follow-up the application of the scratch X. Is there an interdiate recomendation prior to polishing with No. 7.
Techie question. If I rub the clear coat to far, will I effect the color stability of the base coat after UV exposure.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Worth a try

Originally posted by E46007
Thx for the response. I'll give it a try. How should I follow-up the application of the scratch X. Is there an interdiate recommendation prior to polishing with No. 7.
Techie question. If I rub the clear coat to far, will I effect the color stability of the base coat after UV exposure.

I've never rubbed through a clear coat by hand, so if you do it, you take a picture and send it to me!

Meguiar's created this system called the Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle

Step 1 Wash

Step 2 Clean

Step 3 Polish

Step 4 Protect

Step 5 Maintain


ScratchX is in the Step 2 category and after applying ScratchX you'll want to at a minimum apply a coat or two of wax for protection as ScratchX is a product intended only to remove defects, not protect paint.

Hope this helps...

[DogParkGuy]

removing bird poo

Used my G-100 and speed glaze to remove bird **** that had been on a car for several weeks. It took three passes, though, to finally remove the mark.