Walking down the street and having a bird poop on you is rather frustrating. This might not happen all the time, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t annoying when it does.
Bird poop is certainly not pleasant to have to deal with. It’s very runny and it has the potential to ruin your clothes if you don’t take care of the situation.
If you’ve never had to deal with cleaning bird poop before, then you might not know what to do. How do you clean bird poop off clothes?
Continue reading to learn about the best methods for cleaning bird poop off of your clothing items. It should make it easier for you to get your clothes looking great again so that you can put this bird poop incident behind you.
Wait for the Bird Poop to Dry
This might seem unusual, but it’s actually best to wait for the bird poop to dry before doing anything else. It makes things easier and it’s less likely that the bird poop will stain your clothing if you don’t accidentally smear it into the cloth.
If you try to clean the bird poop while it is still moist and runny, then it’s going to be hard to avoid stains. The rubbing motion that you’d need to perform to clean the stain will simply rub the bird poop deeper into the fabric of your clothes.
Needless to say, this is not an ideal solution. Exercise patience and wait for the bird poop to dry.
Take the clothes off carefully and place them somewhere that they can remain undisturbed. After some time has passed, the bird poop should have dried and you’ll be able to move on to the next step.
Remove the Dry Bird Poop From Your Clothes
It’s actually going to be substantially easier to remove dry bird poop from your clothes. To get this job done, you’re going to want to use a dull knife.
Something such as a butter knife will work just fine so long as you’re careful. You want to try to scrape the dry poop off of the clothes in one easy motion.
This likely won’t be too hard to do, but take your time if you’re worried. If the bird poop still seems wet, then you should probably wait a while longer.
With this done, you should be able to wash your clothes as you normally would. You just want to get the poop off of the clothes as much as you can before placing them in the washing machine.
What If You Need to Remove Wet Bird Poop?
There might be situations when you will need to remove wet bird poop. Perhaps you’re on your way to a meeting and you don’t have time to change.
In this situation, you’ll want to scoop away the bird poop using a dull knife or some other tool. If you don’t have access to a knife right now, then using a credit card would work just fine.
After removing as much of the bird poop as you can, it’ll be possible to clean the clothes. Get a wet paper towel and see if you can blot the bird poop stain effectively.
This might take a bit of time and patience, but you should be able to get the stain up if you keep blotting. Each time you blot the stain, it’s important to move on to a clean part of the paper towel.
Remember not to rub the stain, since that can make things worse. Simply keep blotting and you should be able to get good results.
Allow the fabric to dry naturally using the air. Hopefully, you’ll feel that your clothes are presentable enough by the time that you need to go.
Another option that can be considered involves buying a special product. There are products out there that can easily remove stains on the go.
Buying a handy stain removal pen will allow you to get rid of bird poop stains so that you won’t have to worry about your clothes. If you get unlucky and have a bird poop on you, then you’ll be able to clean things up in a timely fashion.
Keep in mind that these pens might not be appropriate to use on all types of clothing. You’ll just need to use your best judgment and move forward from there.
Flushing the Stain Using Cold Water
Flushing the stain using cold water is the next step to take after blotting. When you get home, take your clothing item off and flush it using cold water.
Hold the clothing item under the faucet with the stain facing the opposite direction. You want the cold water to hit the fabric from the other side.
Turn the water pressure to maximum and the water should flush the bird poop away from your clothes. This works surprisingly well if you’re able to avoid a bad stain.
If you accidentally rubbed the stain into the fabric, then you might not be able to use this method properly. This is why it’s crucial to only blot the stain using a paper towel.
Those who used stain removal pens shouldn’t even need to use this step. Although it may depend on the stubbornness of the stain.
Remember not to use hot water when flushing the stain. If you accidentally use hot water, then it can make things worse.
Wash the Clothes Using the Washing Machine
As soon as you’re able to, it’s going to be wise to wash the clothing item in the washing machine. This is because bird poop is incredibly acidic.
Allowing any residual bird poop to stay on the clothes for prolonged periods of time will be bad. Thankfully, you should be able to simply wash the clothes as normal at this point.
Just follow the specific care instructions for the clothing item that you wish to wash. Once everything comes out of the washing machine, you shouldn’t have to worry about the bird poop stain any longer.
If you still have issues, then you might need to use bleach or some other type of stain removal tool. The aforementioned stain removal pens do a good job of removing stains from clothing if you’re in need.
Enlist the Help of a Dry Cleaning Service
Sometimes, it’s going to be hard to wash certain garments. There are some clothing items that you cannot wash in a washing machine.
You also might encounter situations where stains are too stubborn and won’t seem to come out of your clothing items. Luckily, there are professionals that can help you out.
Taking your clothes to a dry cleaning service will be a very practical choice. They should be able to clean the clothing so that you won’t need to worry any longer.
Even stubborn bird poop stains won’t be a problem for a good dry cleaning business. It does cost money to use services like this, but it can be worth it if you’re attempting to save an expensive piece of clothing.
Look into the dry cleaning businesses in your area if you’re in need. Just be sure to scoop away as much of the moist poop as possible before taking your clothes to the dry cleaner.
You’ll want to try to use the blotting method mentioned above, too. Do the best that you can and then allow the clothes to dry naturally in the air.
Take the clothes that got pooped on to the dry cleaner whenever you’re able to. Hopefully, everything will go well and your clothes will look just fine once you pick them up.
There Are Also Home Dry Cleaning Kits
In case you didn’t know, there are also home dry cleaning kits that you can purchase. This is convenient when you don’t want to have to drive to take your clothes to a professional dry cleaning business.
Just remember that you need to do everything in the right order to get good results. You should have been provided with a stain remover in the kit, and you’re going to need to use that first.
Use the stain remover on the stain to remove it before you place your clothing item in the dryer bag. Once done, you’ll be able to use the dryer bag to dry clean your clothes.
Final Thoughts
Having a bird poop on your clothes is certainly a nuisance. It’s not something that happens all the time, but it’s still going to be important to know how to take care of things.
You want to try to be patient and wait for the poop to dry so that you don’t stain your clothes. If you rub the poop into the fabric, then it’s going to be harder to remove the stain.
Try to scrape the dry bird poop off of your clothes using a butter knife or a credit card. When that’s done, you’ll be able to attempt to blot the stain out using a wet paper towel.
Next, flush the stain using cold water. Remember to hold the clothing item so that the stain is not facing the faucet since you want to flush it from the opposite side.
After this, you should be able to wash the clothing item in a washing machine using the proper care instructions. If your clothing item is meant to be dry cleaned, then you’ll need to buy a kit or take it to a professional service.
I have a bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems and over 10 years of experience working in IT. As a homeowner, I love working on projects around the house, and as a father, I love investigating various ways to keep my family safe (whether or not this involves tech). I’ve also played guitar for almost 20 years and love writing music, although it’s hard to find the time these days.