Heat Wave Warning for your Car's Paint Ceramic Coating

July 26, 2022

Special Caution Message During a Heat Wave-Ceramic Coating

We all try to stay cool during summer heat waves, and we know to watch out for our pets, our plants, our gardens, and our kids.

So is there anything special to consider for your car during a heat wave? I’m glad you asked!

One of the biggest things you need to watch out for, especially during hot weather, is removing bird poop from your paint the instant you discover it.

You know the story… you come out from the grocery store and a bird has left you a present on your hood.

Great! “Ah well, I’m going to wash my car this weekend anyway” you think to yourself, so you decide to just leave it until then. Big mistake! Why? Why should you panic and remove it right now? In short, you should remove it now because otherwise it can quickly damage your paint and leave a permanent stain.

Exactly why this happens, and why it’s worse during hot weather has to do with chemistry. (Don’t worry, I’ll keep it simple)

Bird poop causes damage because it is acidic, normally in the 3.0-5.5 pH range. It is acidic because it contains the bird's uric acid, I know, gross.

Since 7 pH is neutral, you can see that anything as low as 3.0-5.5 acid range is pretty strong! So from now on, I want you to think of bird poop as someone dropping a blob of acid on your paint, not good!

As this acid sits on your paint it starts to react with your clear-coat and it begins to dissolve it, ever-so-slowly at first. But if you remember your 8th grade chemistry class, increasing temperatures also hastens chemical reactions, and heat also causes your clear coat to expand and open its pores larger, thereby allowing the acid to penetrate deeper into your clear coat. In our case, the extreme heat of a 95°+ day means that acid sitting on your paint is really going to start dissolving your clear-coat pretty quickly, as in hours! This situation is made even worse if your car is a dark color which gets even hotter in the direct sun. Before you know it, you remove the bird poop, and there will be a slight stain on your paint. At first, most people think this is just leftover residue so they scrub even harder to try to remove it. Of course this is also a serious mistake because now they’re very likely to scratch the already thinning paint and make things worse.

Depending on how long you left the poop on your paint, and the temperature, and the quality of your paint job, and whether you have a ceramic coating or not, will determine how severe of a stain is left behind. A minor stain is called a "topical etch mark". I can usually remove or diminish this level of stain using my professional paint correction methods. A more severe stain is called a "wrinkled etch mark" or "warble etch mark". These can be slightly reduced, but they're permanent and the damage is done. As these stains accumulate all over your car, they cause your car to generally not be as shiny and glossy as when it was new. It's a slow cumulative effect that just makes your car look lifeless.

To make matters even worse than that, bird poop isn’t the only thing that has high acid content that will quickly damage your paint; tree sap, and even bug splatters also contain high levels of acids that cause permanent damage to your paint.

The solution? Well there are 2 solutions:

1.Keep a bottle of Instant Detailer in your car like my Opti-coat No Rinse, and a clean microfiber towel. This is your "emergency kit". Now, as soon as you see bird poop you can drop everything and immediately take care of it.

Pros:

*Bird poop is easier to remove when it’s fresh.

*You're assured that there wasn't time for the acid to cause permanent damage.

*If you remove the poop when it’s fresh, you’ll still have the joy of driving a clean car.

Cons:

*Can be a hassle for some people, especially if you’re not a clean-car-freak (like me)

*You can't always notice bird poop immediately, so sometimes it sits too long even when you're trying your hardest to be vigilant.

2.Have your car ceramic coated. (More on why this works so well in a bit)

Pros:

*Worry-free protection on your paint.

*Once it’s applied, it lifetime protection against acid stains.

*You don’t have to act like a zealous idiot every time you see a bird taking aim at your car, because you know you’re protected.

Cons:

*It’s best to have it applied when your car is brand new because it won’t help with existing damage.

*Since your car's paint is most susceptible to damage right when you drive it off the lot (because it's still considered fresh paint) you need to have the ceramic coating applied as soon as possible.

(In fact, some people have their brand new car delivered directly to me from the dealership so that I am the first to touch it, even before their "lot boys" have a chance to wash it)

So maybe you’re not a car-detailing freak (like me) and you just don’t want to deal with bird poop all summer like a crazed clean-freak?! I’ve got your covered my friend.

This is the exact reason ceramic coatings were invented! Ceramic coatings are specifically designed to be far more resistant to acid than your factory paint. They’re fantastic at adding another layer of protection against acids that are in bird poop, tree sap, and even bug splatters.

Here in the Willamette Valley and the coastal areas of Oregon and Washington we don’t have a high bug population so we don’t worry too much about bugs on our paint, but as soon as you cross over the Cascades and into central Oregon and Washington… hoo boy they’ve got some bugs over there! Paint-damaging bugs!

All of these acids need to be removed ASAP to prevent permanent damage. But if you have a ceramic coating, then you’ve just bought yourself some time before you have to remove the acid blobs. How much time? Well, sooner is always better, but you can wait a few days until you have the time to safely remove the acid. (However I just can’t imagine anyone leaving bird poop on their paint for more than a few seconds before pulling over to remove it like I do… but that’s just me, you’re professional detailer)

For your Instant Detailer product, most auto parts stores sell something that should be safe for your paint. But I carry the best Instant Detailer (and it’s the exact same product I use in my detailing process, so you know it’s good!) It’s called Opti-coat No Rinse and it’s super easy to use, and it won’t damage your paint or your ceramic coating. In fact, it was designed specifically to clean ceramic coated surfaces. I’ll even show you exactly how to use it.

Microfiber towels can be purchased at Costco. They’re cheap, and are soft enough to not cause scratches on your paint or your ceramic coating. Just use barely enough pressure to carefully remove the poop or bugs and you'll avoid scratching.

To have a ceramic coating applied to your car, just stop by anytime for a free demo and consultation. I love showing off our ceramic coated cars so you can see how well they protect against permanent stains, even many years after application.

In fact, if you’ve ever driven one of my loaner cars you’ve seen how clean and shiny they were, and this is because I applied my ceramic coating to them as soon as I bought them.

-Jason Barker, CD-SV

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Paint Scuff and Transfer Removal on a Dodge Truck in Beaverton

By Jason Barker • July 10, 2026

Removing a Massive Paint Scuff From a Dodge Truck in Beaverton A long black scuff running down the side of a white truck can look catastrophic at first glance. The immediate fear is usually the same: Did this scrape all the way through the paint? Is the entire side of the truck going to need bodywork? Fortunately, damage that looks dramatic is not always as severe as it appears. This Dodge truck came to Fresh Start Detail & Ceramic Coating Co. in Beaverton with a heavy black mark extending across the door and down the side of the bed. The truck had rubbed against a plastic bollard, leaving behind a combination of transferred plastic, light clear-coat scratches, a damaged edge of paint-protection film, and one small paint chip. The repair required several different techniques, but the final result was excellent. Once the work was complete, almost no visible evidence of the incident remained. The First Step: Determine What Is Actually Damaged Before polishing or reaching for an aggressive compound, the most important step is figuring out what you are looking at. A dark mark on light-colored paint may be: Material transferred onto the clear coat Scratching within the clear coat Damage through the color coat A combination of all three In this case, much of the black mark was not missing paint. It was plastic from the bollard that had transferred onto the surface of the truck. That distinction matters because transferred material often can be chemically dissolved and removed. Scratches, on the other hand, may require polishing, touch-up paint, or traditional body repair depending on their depth. Treating every scuff as a scratch can lead to unnecessary polishing and additional clear-coat removal. Removing the Plastic Transfer Safely We began with Fresh Start Detail Sap & Tar Remover applied to a clean microfiber towel. The product softened and dissolved the transferred plastic, allowing it to release from the truck’s paint without aggressive scrubbing. Most of the black residue came away surprisingly easily. One area required a second application and additional dwell time. Rather than pressing harder, I applied more product and allowed the chemistry to work. That is an important lesson for anyone trying to remove paint transfer or a stubborn scuff: more pressure is not always the answer. Aggressive rubbing can create new scratches, haze the clear coat, or grind contamination into the finish. A safer approach is to use the correct product, allow reasonable dwell time, and work gradually. Once the black transfer was removed, I could clearly inspect the paint underneath and determine what damage remained. Repairing the Damaged Paint-Protection Film Part of the impact had caught the edge of the paint-protection film installed on a trim area. The film was torn and slightly raised, making the damaged edge more noticeable. Using a fresh blade and an extremely controlled touch, I carefully trimmed away the loose portion of film. The remaining adhesive was then removed with the same sap and tar remover. This dramatically improved the appearance of the damaged area. This particular repair is not something I recommend attempting without professional experience. Cutting near automotive paint requires precision, the correct angle, and a very steady hand. A small slip can cut through the film and into the paint underneath. Polishing the Remaining Scratches After the transferred material was removed, inspection lighting revealed several light scratches running down the side of the truck. These scratches were not especially deep, but they became visible when viewed under focused lighting. White paint can hide defects under normal conditions, which is why proper inspection lights are so useful during paint correction. We polished the affected areas using Optimum Hyper Polish and a RUPES BigFoot machine polisher. The polishing process refined the clear coat and removed the visible scuffing. After a single polishing step, the scratches were no longer noticeable, and the paint regained a clean, uniform appearance. This truck was fortunate. The scratches remained shallow enough to be corrected without sanding or repainting. Deeper scratches that penetrate through the clear coat cannot always be safely polished away. A professional detailer must balance improvement against preserving the long-term thickness and integrity of the factory finish. Touching Up the Paint Chip One small portion of the impact had chipped through the paint. Before applying touch-up paint, I cleaned the area with Optimum Paint Prep. This removed any remaining polish, oils, or residue that could interfere with adhesion. 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Contact Fresh Start Detail & Ceramic Coating Co. at 503 641-3285 or just stop by to get a free assessment of your vehicle’s paint damage.

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