Jacko
It is my understanding that most domestic dish washing fluids contain salt and so are very likely to promote corrosion in metal airframes.
That’s a fair point, Mrs J’s favourite washing-up liquid contains traces of salt, citric acid, lactic acid and water.
Still, I’m far from convinced that a couple of drops in a litre of water from our spring (just to reduce surface tension), subsequently rinsed with copious quantities of the said free water, is any more damaging to aeroplanes than it is to our pots and pans.
Given that few of us wash our aeroplanes in distilled water, I’m inclined to think that a trace of soap containing a trace of salt is of less consequence than the composition of tap water provided by a utility – or rainwater.
Having tried the water cleaning method which was done with non distilled water and needed some scrubbing to remove the insect impacts on my wing I must say after having switched to Safe Zone Cleaner MS-260 sometimes also refereed to as Cleaning spray ECS MS 260 this is the thing to go with. Spray it on the leading edge and wind screen and wipe everything off. But use a different cloth for the screen than for the wing. It works amazingly!
Fenland_Flyer wrote:
Are there companies around that can re polish a plexiglass wind screen and bring it back to as new clarity?
When this guy is done the planes look like new…
Warning: addictive content!
Fenland_Flyer wrote:
Are there companies around that can re polish a plexiglass wind screen and bring it back to as new clarity?
I bought some cheap stuff which was Presto Acryl Scratch Remover and polished each of my front windows for about 15 minutes with a wobbling car polishing machine with a cotton skin and the very scratched windows, which a previous owner had cleaned with his beach towel full of sand were restored to almost new state. Don’t underestimate that and it works very well! My mechanic suggested to by new windows as he had tried polishing his Mooneys windscreens but gave up an ordered new ones. But it works and isn’t that much of a hassle. But don’t do it by hand as your arms will fall off if not done my a machine ;-)
I don’t understand…why do you need more than water?!?
I do like NinerEchoPapa…..“apply water liberally with a sponge along the leading edges one by one and by the time I’ve gone around the entire aircraft they’ve usually soaked enough to rub off fairly easily”
But we do it as a rule after the last flight of the day. A simple investment in time to keep your plane and paint nice. If you let them sit more than that………then I understand. Some club aircrafts look horrible (at least to me, we are all different).
I had a look at the youtube link from Snoopy above. This makes me think we need a thread on washing & polishing airplanes.
I have a late model Saratoga with factory Imron paint. When I bought it 4 years ago, the paint was OK, but could do with improvement.
When I started researching what the options were, the amount of snake oil and old wives tales I came across was unbelievable, including the mythical “teflon polishing”.
I also looked here on Euroga, but not much information available – to paraphrase, “I use dishwashing liquid and my main spar has not corroded all the way through yet”
The interior of the airplane is an entirely different subject with another load of snake oil possibilities.
In the end, and after some trial and error, i found there is actually an easy, low risk way to get the maximum effect with the minimum risk (i.e. not breaking anything that will cost even more to have somebody fix it), and minimum spend (and without any power tools). It will require a bit of work though.
Note this is only for the painted parts of the airframe – windows are something else.
1. Wash properly, with a quality automotive shampoo. Just the shampoo, no fast wax or anything. Use two buckets (one for the suds, the other to rinse). Use a microfibre or lambswool wash mitt. Dry afterwards. I use Meguiers NXT wash – i chose this brand because they also do some aviation specific products, so hoping that this would be completely safe as well (or am i wrong?). This step is easy.
2. The next step is the important one – the one with the most work and biggest impact. Clay bar the airplane. If you haven’t heard about this, you take a piece of special clay, and rub it over the painted surface you want to clean. Apparently, one of the biggest killers of your paint are the various contaminants floating around the atmosphere, which end up settling on your paint. After you clay bar something (properly) the effect is amazing – paint that felt like fine grit sandpaper before is like glass after. Don’t start on your plane, try it first on your car – not because you might wreck your plane, but so you can get a feel for how long you need to clay something and to perfect your technique. Your plane will likely take a LOT longer than your car, mostly because of rivets and edges. After trying a lot of different clay, I found Bilt Hamber was the best (because you dont need a special clay lubricant to use it). After practicing on some of the family cars, it took 6-8 hours to clay the Saratoga.
3. Next step is easier – polish the airplane. Again a huge amount of misinformation about polish, sealant, wax, etc. Polish smooths down the top layer of paint to make it smoother and shinier. I used Autoglym Super Resin Polish. A big bottle will do your plane and cars many times. I also learned it is worth paying a lot of money for the Autoglym special foam applicator pad, it does make things easier if you have a big surface like a wing.
4. Last step is wax. I used Meguiers NXT synthetic wax. Maybe not the best wax (you wont believe the snake oil in the wax market alone) but very easy on and easy off. Polish makes the plane shiny. Wax protects the polished layer. These are very different things.
Now when people see my plane they asked if I spent a lot of money to get it “teflon polished”.
Back to the video – this guy uses ceramic coating. I also looked into this. Another bunch of snake oil, but if you do it right, with the right stuff, it will take everything to the next level. But you have to do it right – for an airplane, this will take many, many, many hours of prep. Look at the video – it looks like he spends a few 18 hour days (often with a helper) prepping a plane for this.
Comments? What do you do? Anything better?
And what do you use to clean windows? They best stuff I found is Aeroshell Plexicoat for cleaning. What about waxing windows to protect them? I used to use the liquid Turtle Wax for this, but I looked at the bottle and saw “petroleum distillate” on it – which I think is not so good for Plexiglass. Carnauba wax is natural and should be better, but most of it is very hard (or in some petroleum based carrier to soften it). I also tried Clearview but was not impressed.
I use PLEXUS A/C PLASTIC CLEANER for my windows and I am very satisfied with the result.
I do not have to use it very often since I can easily remove bugs with water and a cotton cloth for quite a while.
(Some people use PRONTO furniture polish instead which is a lot cheaper…)
https://www.aircraftspruce.eu/plexus-a-c-plastic-cleaner-13oz.htm
+1 for simple green extreme
