Mystery blotch

[raysaint]

Started spring detailing on wife's car, 2023 Soul Red mazda. Just doing a wash, Eraser, Klasse HGS process.
Near the top of the hood, close to the windshield, noticed a spot/blotch. Rubbed my finger on it, felt nothing. However, I still tried a surface spot remover, APC, then Tarminator. Still there. Tried some Reflect polish by hand, no luck.
I'm thinking bird poo? I don't always remove bird poo every day, maybe I should. The old existing LSP is wearing off so maybe the poo was able to etch into the paint. I'm guessing.
Any other thoughts? If it's damaged the surface (hopefully just the clear) what is the solution? I'll have a bodyshop look at it. Hopefully no sanding, Soul Red is hard to match.
Thanks.

 

[Bosko]

can you post a photo?

 

[raysaint]

can you post a photo?

I'll see if it shows in a photo. However, I just noticed another big splotch of bird poo, just tried APC and Tarminator, and I can still see a faded outline of the whole splotch.
I am so angry at myself, have I ruined these spots from stupidity?

 

[SNP209]

If its etched in the clear machine polishing should remove it. If that doesn't work then wetsanding would be your last resort.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

I don't always remove bird poo every day, maybe I should. The old existing LSP is wearing off so maybe the poo was able to etch into the paint. I'm guessing.

First off, you need to get bird poop off as soon as possible, sometimes it will etch almost instantly especially in the summer sun. I never found any wax or sealant to really protect against it, except maybe a fresh heavy wax like Meg's #16 or Collinite 476. I always keep a bottle of QD or waterless wash (really, it's my old supply of Poorboy's BSR, that he was blowing out because the labels got stained, it's more concentrated Spray n' Wipe) in the car and a towel for emergency cleaning.

Just to go on endlessly, some poop you can leave on there for months and it won't etch, but as I said, sometimes you park for 5 minutes and come back and clean it off and it's already etched. I've found the more clear stuff that's harder to spot seems to be more "etchy" but it really varies.

I'll see if it shows in a photo. However, I just noticed another big splotch of bird poo, just tried APC and Tarminator, and I can still see a faded outline of the whole splotch.
I am so angry at myself, have I ruined these spots from stupidity?

Don't beat yourself up too much, these things happen. I have found that sometimes the ghosting will go away by itself. If it's not accompanied by any small craters or pinholes, you're probably in pretty good shape.

We used to have some protocol that someone on Autopia came up with, that involved making a baking soda paste, and rubbing that in and letting it dry, to neutralize any acids that have made their way into the paint film. Then you cleaned that off with IPA? Or did you do the IPA first? I can't remember.

Anyway, it seems to me that sometimes when you would neutralize it and give it some time to breathe, the ghosting would disappear. If not then you would have to polish a bit by hand, which you say you have already done, but maybe you need something with a little more cut. Just be careful that new Mazda paint is supposed to be really thin. And of course sometimes they don't come out. But if it feels smooth and you only see it at the right angle, you've got a pretty good shot.

 

[raysaint]

So the spot on the hood, it's small and almost looks a bit wrinkled. I may leave it alone, only I see it.
The bigger spot on the side, the outline of the poop is slightly a dark line, I'd call it maybe more than ghosting?
After reading online, I saw mainly one solution, compounding. And an odd solution.
1) G Techniq site said keep pouring hot water over it, it re-levels the paint (sounds weird.)
2) many threads say to use a more cutting compound, by hand at first, then polish. All I have is Carpro Reflect, so any suggestions for a more abrasive compound is appreciated. But I'm nervous that a compound will leave a dull spot, I'm not familiar with compounds.
3)let a bodyshop do it, I would think they could do a perfect job.

 

[chilly]

So the spot on the hood, it's small and almost looks a bit wrinkled. I may leave it alone, only I see it.
The bigger spot on the side, the outline of the poop is slightly a dark line, I'd call it maybe more than ghosting?
After reading online, I saw mainly one solution, compounding. And an odd solution.
1) G Techniq site said keep pouring hot water over it, it re-levels the paint (sounds weird.)
2) many threads say to use a more cutting compound, by hand at first, then polish. All I have is Carpro Reflect, so any suggestions for a more abrasive compound is appreciated. But I'm nervous that a compound will leave a dull spot, I'm not familiar with compounds.
3)let a bodyshop do it, I would think they could do a perfect job.

1) no comment, but yeah, sounds weird
2) Meguiars Ultimate Compound is widely available, inexpensive, and will probably keep you out of trouble unless you get REALLY heavy handed
3) I have to believe there would be a specialty high end paint shop that could help you but in my experience a run of the mill "body shop" is just as likely to inflict more damage than they cure

YMMV

 

[Setec Astronomy]

I think the bodyshop's solution is going to be repaint; the level of finesse you are talking about IMO will be beyond them.

The hot water gets back to what I was saying earlier about trying to pull the acids, enzymes, etc. out of the paint. Wrinkling and dark outlines sound bad.

I just searched a bit on Autopia but couldn't find what I was looking for. Honestly I think it was Bill D that had the method, you might try PM'ing him because he hasn't been posting.

But if you have to "compound", you can of course clean up any hazing with a finer polish. Most modern compounds don't have large abrasive size like in the old days, and don't haze too much. What do you have on hand?

PS Chilly beat me to some of this stuff while I was composing