Removing debris from car without removing finish

I had what looked like some kind of berry on the hood of my car (2015 Mazda). It could have come from a bird and been combined with bird crap (though there is no white like you typically see with that).

I didn't take it to be washed for quite a while. After the wash (hand), I noticed that there was some paint removed and still some of the debris. I am not sure if they scrubbed too hard or the debris ate into the finish or some of both.

There are a couple smaller (size of eraser head) places where the paint is gone and I can see raw metal. I plan to touch that up with touch up paint.

My question is, before I do that, how do I get the rest of this debris off? I am thinking something like setting a hot cloth with dish detergent on there for a while and then gently trying to remove it. With the paint already chipped, I don't want to make that worse.

 

Car ownership 101. Clean it regularly. The berry stuff was bird poop, and contained acids, neither of which is good for the finish. If you have places that go to metal, they weren't caused by birds. Putting a soap soaked rag on it won't help and could potentially make things worse.

 

Agreed, it's past the cleaning stage. Post a pic of it and maybe we can tell the best way to touch it up.

 

Agree, no bird poop in the world will take paint down to metal unless you happen to hit that bird ass end at 80mph.

A little fine cut cleaner will clean up the remains and then head to the auto parts store for some touch up paint for the bare metal that is showing.

 

Here's a picture.

Berries do have acid, which is probably not good for the paint. The car wash may have been too aggressive on cleaning it or the hard bits of it that came off under a rag could have done the damage while when they tried to get it off. I'm not suggesting the bird poop itself removed the paint.