A bird in hand may be worth two in the bush, but a bird on the bonnet can seriously devalue a car – especially if it has a dodgy belly.
Bird poop is one of the biggest threats to modern car paint finishes and if left untouched can lead to etch marks and crazing in the car’s lacquer finish.
Luckily, Autoglym Professional has the answer in the form of Reflow – a purpose-design smart repair system for lacquer damaged by bird lime, and repairable for just £5 a go. Not only that but it requires no training or advanced skills to use – meaning you can even trust the Saturday boy with it if you need to.
Etchings or impressions forming on the paint are caused by the warming and cooling cycle of the vehicle’s paintwork. The top level of paint (clear coat) warms and moulds around the bird dropping and then cools and hardens. The heating cycle may be triggered by sunlight or heat from the engine. Over time, as the cycle repeats, the clear coat takes on an impression of the bird dropping, often appearing in the form of a faded or dull etchings.
Reflow has been developed in the UK to help rectify these imperfections in the paintwork. The water-activated thermal transfer packs have been designed to heat to a specific temperature which they retain for a specific length of time to create the optimum conditions for the paint to soften, reflow and fill the etchings caused by the bird droppings.
As the pack cools, the paintwork resets, effectively healing the affected area and removing the bird dropping mark.
Each Reflow pouch contains five thermal transfer packs. Reflow should be placed and left on the damaged paintwork, untouched, for 30 minutes.
Here’s how you do it.
Important
- Refer to the health & safety information on the pack before use.
- Do not add water to the pack unless you are next to the vehicle and ready to start the process, as the pack will heat up quickly.
- For use on vehicles with clear coat only. Safe on painted plastic parts with clear coat. Not suitable for any other surfaces than paintwork.
- Do not use on matt or cellulose paint or wraps.
Instructions
- First wash and dry the vehicle to remove all trace of the dropping. Tear off the top of the pack where instructed.
- Add 40ml of water to the fill line and fold over the top of the pack twice.
- Remove the peel-able sticker from the vent hole and reuse it to secure the fold at the top of the pack. Caution: the vent hole will release very hot steam.
- Holding the pack horizontally, massage the heating pad firmly with your thumbs for 10 seconds to ensure heating pad is completely saturated. Quickly place it over the affected area with the vent hole showing on top and the heating pad over the defect. Use the supplied adhesive tabs to secure the pack to the paintwork.
- Leave the pack untouched on the paintwork for 30 minutes. Once cooled, carefully remove and dispose of the pack in the general waste.
- Important! Wait 10 minutes for the paintwork to set before touching or applying any other products as new marks could be introduced.