How to Clean Bird Poop Off Deck (5 Easy Methods!)

If you’re fortunate enough to have a beautiful deck to hang out with friends and family, it’s natural to want to do everything in your power to protect it and keep it beautiful.

Unfortunately, one of the things that most people struggle to guard against is bird poop. In addition to being disgusting and foul, bird poop stains are tough to remove once they’ve had time to sit and absorb into your deck.

If you have a wooden deck covered in bird poop and want to return it to its former state, you’ve come to the right place. I’ll explore some of the best ways to get bird poop off your deck with ease. Let’s dig in!

5 Ways to Remove Bird Poop Off Your Deck

The good news about bird poop on your deck is that there are several different ways to remove it. There’s no single perfect way, and the method you choose will largely depend on what you have at your disposal and your preferences.

Before using any of these methods, it’s important to remove all of the outdoor furniture from the deck, as well as anything else that might be in the way, such as bird feeders or toys.

1. Use a Garden Hose

The first and most straightforward method for removing bird poop is to use a garden hose. To do this, use an everyday garden hose you can get at any hardware or home improvement store and connect it to an outdoor spigot.

Next, turn the water on and spray the deck with as much pressure as you can muster. If the bird poop is a recent addition and hasn’t had time to dry, you can remove most of it using this method.

However, if the poop has already stained, a typical garden hose likely won’t generate enough pressure to remove it. Therefore, you may have to up your spray game to a pressure washer.

2. Use a Pressure Washer

Pressure washers are motorized machines that generate a ton of pressure that gets put behind a water hose. When you activate the hose and start spraying, the built-up pressure forces the water out of the hose at high pressure for added force.

As such, a pressure washer removes bird poop stains from decks more effectively than a standard garden hose. However, pressure washers can generate too much pressure, which could result in deck damage.

Therefore, you should only use a power washer on its lowest setting, which might not be enough to do any good. If this is the case, you will need to move on to plan C.

3. Use Water and Bleach

A little hard work never hurt anybody, and effectively removing dried poop stains from your deck may require it. If hoses and power washers aren’t doing the trick, you may need to use a combination of water and bleach.

1. Mix water and bleach together in a large bucket at a 3 to 1 ratio, using more water than bleach.
2. For good measure, you can add in a little dish soap.
3. Stir the mixture together and use a rough-thistle scrub brush to scrub at stubborn stains vigorously. Make sure to wear gloves when working with bleach, as it can damage the skin.
4. Continue rubbing and scrubbing as much as needed to remove stains effectively.
5. Once finished with a section of the deck, use a water hose or pressure washer on the lowest setting to wash away the water and bleach concoction.

While this method is very effective, it also presents the risk of bleach stains. Bleach stains will happen if allowed to sit in an area for too long, so it’s important to spray down the area regularly.

4. Use Water, Baking Soda, and Vinegar

Because using bleach presents the potential for unmendable stains, it might be wiser to use less abrasive materials, such as baking soda and white vinegar. This is a very creative and effective home remedy and works nearly as well as a commercial deck cleaner. Here’s how it works.

1. Pour 3 gallons of warm water into a large cleaning bucket.
2. Next, add a half cup of vinegar, baking soda, and dish soap.
3. Stir the concoction together and let it sit for one minute before proceeding.
4. Next, dispense your concoction using a spray bottle or cup onto the deck’s surface.
5. Apply it to every area with bird poop or stains and let it sit for five to ten minutes.
6. After it’s sat for a period, use a rough bristle brush to scrub away at stains.
7. When you’re finished scrubbing, finish off the process by washing and rinsing the deck with a water hose.

5. Use Advanced Deck Cleaners

If home remedies and pressure washing aren’t doing the trick, you can also use commercial deck cleaners. The advantage of this cleaning method is that commercial products are available for every type of decking material.

All you need to do is purchase the right one, follow the directions on the package, and you should have no trouble getting your deck clean. However, because commercial cleaning solutions contain harsh chemicals, wearing gloves, safety goggles, and old clothing that you don’t mind ruining is important.

Need a guide to clean and stain your deck properly? Check out the video below!

How to Keep Bird Poop Off Your Deck

Because cleaning bird poop off your deck is hard and tedious work, it might be easier to prevent birds from pooping on it in the first place. Here are some helpful tips to that end.

• Keep bird feeders and bird baths at a safe distance from your deck or patio.
• Cut back any tree limbs that are hanging over your deck.
• Trim back any shrubs or landscaping near your deck, as these are hotbeds for birds.
• Keep food scraps, garbage, and other things that attract birds off your deck.
• Consider placing a bird repellent, such as a scarecrow or fake cat, on your deck to scare birds away.

Unfortunately, try as you may, completely preventing birds from pooping on your deck is simply unavoidable. Therefore, it’s best to have a few cleaning tricks up your sleeve to remove poop when it appears.

Things You’ll Need to Clean Bird Poop Off Your Deck

The items you’ll need to clean bird droppings off your deck will depend on your cleaning method. To be ready for anything, however, here’s a good list of items that it’s helpful to have on hand.

• Power washer or water hose
• White vinegar
• Baking soda
• Dawn Dish Soap
• Hydrogen peroxide
• Old toothbrush
• Putty knife
• Bleach
• Deck cleaner

Remember, it’s always easier to clean bird poop stains before they have time to dry, so be proactive and check your deck daily.

Is It Necessary to Remove Bird Droppings From My Deck?

There’s no denying that bird droppings are unsightly, smelly, and annoying, but is it really worth going to the trouble of removing them from your deck? In short, it’s absolutely worth the hassle, and here’s why.

• Protect Your Investment

In addition to being unsightly and smelly, bird poop can also damage your deck. It contains chemicals and ingredients that can eat away and stain wood, PVC, and other materials, leading to expensive repairs.

• Increase Its Usage

While you might not be bothered by bird poop, we guarantee that most of your friends and family will be. So, if you want to get the most use out of your deck, it’s essential to remove bird poop as it appears.

• Pest Prevention

Finally, even though we find bird droppings disgusting, it’s like candy to rats, mice, insects, and other pests. Therefore, if you want to keep these nuisances away from your deck, it’s necessary to remove bird poop.

FAQ

How do you remove dried bird poop stains?

The best way to remove dried poop stains is with dish soap, baking soda, white vinegar, and warm water. Apply this concoction to stains, let it sit for ten minutes, and scrape it away using a brush or old toothbrush.

Can you use toothpaste to remove bird poop?

In some cases, toothpaste can be effective at removing bird poop. However, other household materials like dish soap, vinegar, and baking soda are more effective.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there are plenty of great ways to get rid of bird poop and poop stains.

The key is to start with the fastest and easiest method, a garden hose, and proceed to more labor-intensive methods that require scrubbing and hard work.

If you need more than water pressure to remove poop stains, it’s best to start with the least volatile materials first, such as vinegar and baking soda. If those don’t work, harsher chemicals, such as bleach and commercial cleaners, are an option, but it’s important to be careful when applying them and thoroughly rinse the deck when you’re finished.