1. How to safely remove bird droppings.

2. How to wash your car properly.

BIRD DROPPINGS.

Bird droppings are probably the singularly most destructive thing to a car's paintwork. 

Depending on what the bird has eaten will depend on how strong the acids are in it's droppings. It will range from no damage to eating straight through the paint down to the metal panel underneath. In that case the panel will need repainting. If it is still in the clearcoat, we can reduce or remove the mark, depending on how far it has eaten into the paint. The best way is to remove it as soon as possible before it damages the paint.

1. DO NOT try to pick off the dropping if it is dry or use scourers, household cleaners or any other type of abraisive, even some polishes will leave scratch marks that are difficult to remove.

2. Hose the area off to try to remove it. You can also soak a sponge or cloth in water & place it onto the dropping allowing it to soften. After a few minutes, with water running over the affected area, gently rub the dropping off of the area with the wet sponge. Dry the area afterwards with a microfibre cloth.

WASHING YOUR CAR 

Rule 1. Don't use automatic car washes, brushed or brushless.

Did you know that all of the water used at car washes is recycled & treated with chemicals that can damage the finish on your car.

Even the "softwash" bristles can over time ruin the shine on your car, leaving lots of fine scratches. 

Rule 2. Refer to rule 1.

Seriously, we have seen sone terrible damage done to cars by car wash brushes, high power hoses & the like. Even with water restrictions,the best way to wash your car is by hand.

Use a good, high quality car wash gel or car shampoo, do not use household detergent or hair shampoo, these can strip the protective waxes & polishes from the paint.

Use 2 buckets of water, 1 for the car wash, 1 for rinsing your sponge or mitt.

1. Always try to wash your car in the shade & make sure the paint is not hot.

2. Use a good quality non acid wheel cleaner to clean your rims & tyres, make sure to check on the bottle to make sure it suits your rims. Wet the rims & spray the cleaner on according to the instructions, use a soft brush to loosen any stubborn brake dust & grime, hose off the rims.

3. Wet down the car to loosen dust & dirt on your car's paint.

Using 2 buckets of water, fill both buckets wth water but only put wash solution in 1 bucket. Dip your mitt or sponge in the bucket with the suds, wash one or two panels at a time before dipping the mitt in the bucket of clean water, swishing the mitt around in the water & wring it out. This removes any large pieces of dirt from the mitt, not running the dirt backover the paint causing unneccesary scratching.

Continue this over the whole car & rinse the paintwork & windows off afterwards before the suds dry off.

4. Use a separate sponge, mitt or soft brush to scrub inside the wheel arches & sidewalls of the tyres & rinse off.

5. To dry the car, try to sheet the water off of the panels. This will leave the panels with minimal water on them & use a couple of microfibre towels, 1 to remove the majority of the water & the other to remove what is left behind. Use a separate cloth to wipe inside the door jams, bonnet & boot openings.

6. Windows can also be cleaned with a damp microfibre cloth or a dedicated window cloth.

7. Apply a dressing to the tyres to blacken them, it will really lift the appearance of the car.

8. Optional. After you have finished drying & dressing the car, you could drive around the block, the movement & wind will blow out all those annoying drips that come out of the crevices when you drive down the road & just run your microfibre over those drip marks when you return home for the perfect finish.