How to Clean Bird Droppings

Learn how to clean bird poop from furniture, flooring, roofing, car paint, and more

Co-authored by Tommy Goldberg

Last Updated: August 27, 2024 References

Bird poop looks gross, and it’s also acidic, meaning it can actually damage surfaces that it sits on for too long. Fortunately, cleaning it off quickly will prevent any issues, and it’s not hard to do with a little elbow grease. We’ve put together some of the best tips for removing bird poop on a variety of different surfaces, like upholstery, brick, car paint, concrete, and even clothing.

Best Way to Clean Bird Droppings Off Wood

Place a warm, wet cloth over the stain to soften the droppings. Spray or blot the droppings with a specialty wood cleaner and leave it to soak for a few moments. Gently scrub the spot with a soft towel, wipe the remaining droppings away with a separate damp towel, and dry the area with a clean microfiber cloth.

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Cleaning Upholstery and Carpet

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Using a warm, wet cloth, take a few passes at the spot to get the worst of the mess out of the way. Because of the way carpet and fabric upholstery are made, much of the droppings will collect and harden at the top of the fibers, making the bulk of it easier to wipe away. Use pinching, pulling motions with the wet cloth to coax the droppings out of the carpet or upholstery. ^{[1]
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2
Spray on some upholstery care or carpet cleaner. Depending on exactly what type of surface you’re cleaning and what materials it’s made of, you’ll want to purchase some special cleaner that is guaranteed to work safely on that surface. Most standard carpet cleaners or all-purpose household cleaners will be mild enough to work on any kind of carpet, and foaming upholstery cleaners can be found at any supermarket or drugstore. Spray enough cleaner onto the spot to cover what’s left of it. ^{[2]
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- If you do not have any specialized carpet cleaner on hand, you also have the option of mixing up a gentle solution consisting of mild laundry detergent, vinegar and warm water. ^{[3]
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Give the cleaner two or three minutes to sit on the spot. The chemical compounds in the cleaner will begin to eat away the hardened stain, making it easy to wipe away later.
4
Wipe away the remaining mess. Use a damp washcloth to go over the spot once again. The stain-fighting power of the cleaner combined with the force of scrubbing by hand should be enough to take the spot out of your carpet or upholstery. If any traces are left after scrubbing, spray a little more cleaner on the spot, let it sit, then make a second attempt.
- Scrub forcefully to ensure that you get as much of the dried-on mess out of the deeper layers of the carpet as you can.
- Always wash any washcloth or towel that comes into contact with bird poop right away.

Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Cleaning Brick, Concrete and Roofing

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If the droppings are in an accessible place, wet them with warm water before you begin cleaning. Pour the water directly over the spot, or soak a washcloth and use it to cover the spot. The warmth and moisture of the water will begin softening the stain, loosening its hold on hard, porous surfaces.
Give the warm water ample time to begin softening the stain. Bird droppings dry in a thick paste, and it may be much harder to clean them away if they’re still partially dry. Make sure you’ve wet the entire spot. Once the water has softened the droppings, they will begin to look fresh again.
3
Use a hose to clean the mess. Take a garden hose and hold it a few feet away from the spot. Turn it on at full flow and aim it directly at the bird droppings. The constant stream of water should finish the job that wetting the spot started. Go over the stain it’s completely gone.
- If your hose comes with a head that allows you to adjust the stream, set it to the high-pressure, single stream flow to blast away bird messes.
- If your hose doesn't have an adjustable head, you can place your thumb halfway over the nozzle to partially block the water flow and produce a higher pressure stream manually.
4
Use a brush to knock out stubborn traces. If traces of the droppings remain after you’ve washed the spot with a hose, take a small, stiff-bristled scrubbing brush (a household broom will also work) and scour the area, re-wetting as needed. The bristles will dig into the crevices in the brick, concrete or roofing tile and scrape away the remaining bird poop.
- Be sure to clean the brush off after use; bird feces is filled with bacteria.

Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Cleaning Hardwood, Car Paint and Other Smooth Surfaces

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Wet a washcloth with hot or warm water and lay it over the afflicted area. A wet cloth is preferable to directly applying warm water to hardwood or car paint because the cloth traps heat and moisture, rather than simply running off or possibly causing water damage. Leave the spot to soak in the moisture from the cloth.
2
Treat the spot with a specialty cleaner. Once the bird droppings have softened, treat the spot directly with a wood or car cleaner. If the smooth surface you’re cleaning is vinyl or something similar, an all-purpose cleaner should be fine, or you might even have success with the warm washcloth alone. Spray or blot just enough cleaner onto the spot to cover it; avoid getting excess cleaner on unaffected areas of hardwood or paint. ^{[4]
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- A wash-and-wax cleaner should do the trick on cars. Wash-and-wax solutions are formulated to clean dirt, oil and grime off of cars and leave the topcoat of paint with a freshly-waxed shine. ^{[6]
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- Purchasing special cleaning products is recommended for treating temperamental surfaces, but assuming you don't feel like dropping a lot of money, you can also go the homemade route. A gentle, natural wood polish can be whipped up out of hot water, olive oil and lemon juice, while dish soap diluted with warm water makes a basic but effective solution for cleaning car exteriors. ^{[7]
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Hardwood and car paint are surfaces that are easily damaged, so only leave the cleaner on the spot for a few moments to give it time to set up. Otherwise, the cleaner made bleed through the spot and stain your hardwood floor, or eat into your top coat of paint. There’s no need for the cleaner to sit for a long period of time on the spot because hard, smooth surfaces are non-porous, and therefore the cleaner won’t have to soak into the material in order to clean it.
4
Use a soft towel to gently scrub out the spot. Take another clean, damp towel and wipe away as much of the bird droppings as you can. Broad, gentle strokes will work best here. Try not to scrub in a back-and-forth motion or apply too much pressure, as this may weaken the surface’s finish. After all remnants of the spot are removed, dry the area by dabbing it with a dry towel.
- Microfiber towels are extremely soft and their fibers let them lock in the dirt and water that they soak up, making them ideal for most gentle cleaning jobs.
- Take special care to dry hardwood floors quickly, as allowing moisture to sit on wood can cause it to warp and splinter.

Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Cleaning Clothing

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Pour a small amount of liquid laundry detergent into a container of warm water and allow it to spread throughout the water. This will create a cleaning solution you can use to spot-treat the area directly. A little goes a long way: about one part detergent to five parts water is more than enough. ^{[8]
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Laundry detergents are effective at cutting through hard, dry and greasy stains like the one you’re dealing with. Wet the hardened stain the solution to soften it. Let the laundry solution sit on the spot for two or three minutes. Reapply the solution if the stain doesn’t look like it’s softening.
3
Scrub the stain away. Using a scrubber brush or disposable dish sponge, scrub the area thoroughly to wipe out the stain. Keep the stain wet and sudsy by dipping the brush or sponge into the laundry solution as needed. Continue until the spot is completely gone. ^{[9]
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- If you’re cleaning a delicate garment, use gentle, sweeping circular motions to ease the spot out, or use the soft side of the sponge.
- If you use a sponge, throw it away after you’re finished. Yuck!
Put the piece of clothing you’re cleaning through a regular wash cycle after you’ve scrubbed out the bird droppings. Wash on medium or high heat with like colors. When the garment comes out of the dryer, you’ll never be able to tell that it happened!

Community Q&A

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Question

Birds have pooped on a large acrylic painting in my garage. How do I remove the stains without damaging the paint?

Community Answer

This is a tricky one, because acrylic paintings are not usually protective by any kind of gloss or finishing coat. Your best bet is to take it to an art specialist, rather than risk effacing the painting by trying to clean it yourself.

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Tips

A stiff-bristled kitchen dish scrubber makes a great tool for eliminating bird poop stains from a variety of surfaces.

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One of the best measures is prevention. If you live or work in an area where birds tend to congregate, try to find a covered place to park your car, and watch where you’re walking. Take a look up every now and then.

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Warnings

Bird droppings may contain live bacteria and diseases. It’s advisable to only work on bird poop stains while wearing gloves and some type of face mask to insulate you from whatever might be released from the spot as you clean it (another reason for wetting the stain is to cut down on drifting dust and debris from bird poop).

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To reiterate, be careful about leaving chemical cleaners on hardwood or car paint for too long. All it takes is a minute or two too long to cause damage to finished surfaces.

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If the article of clothing you’re cleaning is a dinner jacket, nice dress or other dry-clean-only item, take it to a dry cleaners to be worked on professionally. You probably won’t even need to treat the spot yourself. Dry cleaners are armed with a multitude of tricks for getting stubborn stains out of all sorts of different materials.

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How to Clean Bird Droppings

Best Way to Clean Bird Droppings Off Wood

Steps

Cleaning Upholstery and Carpet

Cleaning Brick, Concrete and Roofing

Cleaning Hardwood, Car Paint and Other Smooth Surfaces

Cleaning Clothing

Community Q&A

Video

Tips

Warnings

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