Crows in the living room! Cleaning advice please

[MariaDingbat]

We came down this morning to find two crows flying about in the living room! I was able to get them out quickly enough thankfully but as they came down the chimney they've have left soot marks on the walls and ceiling and a few poos too.

Our 15 month old toys and books were in there as well as soft furnishings. I've checked everything for soot and poo and found some on the rugs 🤢 Any advice on how to get crow poo out of a rug? I appreciate this is rather specific! Also, I'm planning on wiping hard surfaces down with antibac, and advice how to make sure her books and soft toys are safe?

OMG OP, no practical advice but that would be my worst nightmare, I am TERRIFIED of birds. I would have genuinely locked the door and ran away, then probably bricked up my chimney.

were they jackdaws? more likely

When I had a jackdaw down the chimney I found the magic sponges got the marks off the ceiling and walls.

It smashed all my things on the window sills.

Thanks for the tips! We had a long day of cleaning but we were able to get the marks out of everything thank God. Blotting with warm water got poo out of the oriental rug and wool armchair, had to just cut a bit of poo out of the sheepskin, the soot came off with a gentle dust and then a slightly damp towel, we washed all the wooden and floor with soapy water and we sprayed all the baby stuff with a Dettol antibac we had left over from lockdown. Nothing was broken thankfully.

All in all a tiring day and not what we wanted to do on a sunny Sunday, especially when we found a suprise of a massive streak of poo down the back of the TV!! A cowl is getting fitted next week.

And they were definitely crows, we don't have many jackdaws near us but a very strong crow and hooded crow population.

I'm with you @ImSaxyAndIKnowIt. I'd have just run out and sold the house tbh

No advice OP, but in a previous job I heard of a couple who came home from holiday to find a magpie had got into their lounge, couldn't get out, pooed all over the show, then copped it after flying into a window a few times. They rocked up to an almighty stench (height of the summer), flies, bird shit and soot all over their posh lounge. They were claiming for cleaning costs for their cream carpet and sodas and repair to the lacquer on their baby grand piano! So...it could be worse?

Definitely one for sorrow there, CraicDealer!