# Bird Poo "Etching" - Hairdryer Method



## FJ1000

Hi All

I see there was a topic on bird poo etching quite recently where using a hairdryer was mentioned. I thought I'd start a new topic on this, just to highlight that it works!

The Mrs 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 another 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!










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## James_R

Method I use all the time.

Has to be tried to be believed - pleased you got the results you were looking for!

And not had to remove any clear coat:thumb:


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## fatdazza

I would be interested how hot the panel gets when doing this. My guess is pretty hot.


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## Slammedorion

We use heat guns at work on stains, bird poo etc
The amount of threads I see on here where people are flatting stains and bird poo marks makes me :lol:
Flatting and polishing is the last resort :thumb:
If stains won't shift with a heat gun, next step is heat lamp and keep a eye on panel temperature


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## TonyHill

That's a great result, I'll be trying this. Surprised it's not more common knowledge :thumb:


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## kh904

I've got 3 bird poo etchings on my relatively newly sprayed bonnet!!!
I've tried claying & hand polishing with AG Polish, but no luck.

I'll be very interested to know more specific details on how hot the hair dryer needs to be and for how long it should be heated etc!

Any info on how this works?


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## nick_mcuk

See this proves it every day is a school day and rarely does anyone know it all (despite what some think!).

Will give this a go on the Mazda as there are a coupe of etch marks.


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## FJ1000

I wish I knew the answer to how hot the panel gets, and what's safe...all I can say is that I started cautious (hairdryer a couple of inches away), before moving it in closer, and kept checking the panel all the time.

I managed to find the original thread over on the RS246 forum where I first read about this method, and it contained a link to this page on autoglym's site. Worth a read:

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

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## kh904

I have a heat gun, which will be much more powerful than a hair dryer, so i just want to be cautious trying this method.


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## Hufty

Wish I'd seen this Friday spent an hour polishing bonnet after being bombed.


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## MK7

Wish id seen this years ago..just when you think you know it all this thread comes along.
only just joined DW Awesome


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## moochin

Thanks for sharing this mate. Now I've read the ag research it makes sense why heating and cooling the area works. One for the memory bank👍

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## Harry_p

kh904 said:


> I have a heat gun, which will be much more powerful than a hair dryer, so i just want to be cautious trying this method.


Personally I'd stick to a hairdryer, a heatgun is pretty fierce and it would be very easy to make the paint bubble, at which point you're in respray territory.

Must admit, I'm surprised a hairdryer works. In itself it must make the panel pretty hot, hotter than it would get on a hot sunny day, which can easily be too hot to touch, otherwise everyone's etchings would come out on their own on a nice summers day.


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## fatdazza

Anyone hazard a guess how long it will be before we se a thread titled:

"My clearcoat has bubbled up when I got a bit carried away with the heatgun"?



I supposed it will make a change from "Got a bit carried away with the wool pad, is this a strike though" :lol:


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## chongo

All I can say is that yes it's made a difference to your paint, but it hasn't fully removed the etching, so it's still not sorted in my eyes. If you had multi bird etching all over your car,, which we have all seen before, as above said Fatdazza, there are no set procedure on how long you should heat the area at close range before you damage your paint🤔 I would like to see this done when we get into the cold winter days and nights, applying heat at so close to a very cold panel, do we know if it could damage your paint? I would stick to the procedure that been tried and tested and works.👌


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## FJ1000

chongo said:


> All I can say is that yes it's made a difference to your paint, but it hasn't fully removed the etching, so it's still not sorted in my eyes. If you had multi bird etching all over your car,, which we have all seen before, as above said Fatdazza, there are no set procedure on how long you should heat the area at close range before you damage your paint🤔 I would like to see this done when we get into the cold winter days and nights, applying heat at so close to a very cold panel, do we know if it could damage your paint? I would stick to the procedure that been tried and tested and works.👌


Hey chongo

You're right, the 2 marks (I wouldn't call them etching in light of all this) haven't completely gone. But they're at a point where nobody would notice unless standing over the bonnet looking for imperfections. The car is in good condition, but isn't a show car, so there are other slight imperfections too.

At some point, i'll get time to do the full paint correction which I've bought all the gear for, but haven't got round to. At that point I'm confident that a light polish will take care of the marks completely.

Surely that's preferable to removing a significant amount of lacquer?

Also, I'm by no means suggesting anyone tries this with a heat gun! Unless you're a pro and know what you're doing...


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## wish wash

how does this method work if your car has a coating on it like gtechniq c1+exo


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## FJ1000

wish wash said:


> how does this method work if your car has a coating on it like gtechniq c1+exo


My other car happens to have Gtechniq crystal serum and EXO on it - if I end up trying it on that I'll report back. I'm hoping that I don't have to though!

No coating on the golf.


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## steveo3002

amazing - wouldnt have believed it lol

nice job


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