Aircraft washing

K

Kalikiano

New Member
What kind of whipes/brushes do you use to wash a plane. Ive never had to wash a plane and I got a exterior kit from sportys which has the wash/degreaser/ and polish but I didnt think about what kind of applicator to use.

Is it safe to use brushes/scrubbers with an extension pole that you would use on a car or do you use special cloths and a ladder? Sportys and a couple other sites I looked at only sell the expensive DuPont paper towels.
 
I've washed many a planes at the FBO working line! The degreaser for the belly....just a rag and scrub :] As far as actually washing it goes, i'm sure you can probably use any soap...we always had the ZEP aviation stuff. A regular bursh on a pole....your not going to damage the a/c with it...think about hitting bugs and rain, etc. doing 100+. DO NOT however scrub the windshield or any windows. Those can and will get scratched, which makes for nasty visibility when inside. Rinse it all off, and you can do the windows with regular windex and paper towels. Also...this probably goes without saying but i've seen it...don't shoot the hose straight at the air intake! You can quickly go over but don't stay on it for any period of time! The engine won't like that :]
 
I agree on not using paper towels. Also when rubbing on windshields and other such, either go straight across and back or up and down and NEVER use circular motions on windshields.
JMHO
HL
 
Kalikiano said:
What kind of whipes/brushes do you use to wash a plane. Ive never had to wash a plane and I got a exterior kit from sportys which has the wash/degreaser/ and polish but I didnt think about what kind of applicator to use.
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Use a soft bristle brush that you can get at an Auto Store. For degrease I use only terry cloths. For a wax applicator, any micro fiber you can find or an actual wax applicator pad.

Is it safe to use brushes/scrubbers with an extension pole that you would use on a car or do you use special cloths and a ladder? Sportys and a couple other sites I looked at only sell the expensive DuPont paper towels.
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See above. Don't buy expensive "Dupont" paper towels.
 
I thought Windex clouds Plexiglass/Acrylic windows? Everywhere I have ever worked we use either Pledge (yeah, the furniture polish) or Plexis (or similar). And, never wipe in a circle. Always wipe front to back.:D

Edit to dd: Yup, here it is. Striaght from the horse.

http://www.windex.com/faq/#bog-all-types

For all of you airplane and helicopter owners, we're sorry, but Windex® is not formulated to clean your LEXAN® windows
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Another link for ya.

http://www.lpaero.com/CAREINS.html
 
SD20 degreaser and some old fashioned water / soap solution. We used this combo for small GA all the way to a F900.
 
Dr.Avion said:
The technical term is "crazing". The ammonia in Windex will produce it.
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Crazing and fogging are two different issues. Crazing is tiny little cracks. Fogging is just that, fogging. You can fix a fogged windscrean usually with some polishing. A crazed windscrean will usually look like this:

[YT]wvXzs0TZ9sE[/YT]

This is fogging
lens-cover-before_tn.jpg
 
Erik1010 said:
SD20 degreaser and some old fashioned water / soap solution. We used this combo for small GA all the way to a F900.
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I'd bet simple green would have the same result. You can buy a bottle for under 10 bucks and dilute it with water at about a 1 to 4 or 5 ratio. I use that combo to wipe down my RC airplanes. It is the only thing I've found that cuts through the grease deposited directly behind the exhaust after a day of flying.

Here: http://www.simplegreen.com/products_all_purpose_cleaner.php

Six dollars plus shipping will give you almost 2 gallons (120 oz) of cleaner if you dilute it 1 part simple green to 4 parts water.
 
shdw said:
I'd bet simple green would have the same result.
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I just used Simple Green on a plane today. It worked wonderrs on the 20 year old grease on the nose gear. I know there's an official "aviation grade" Simple Green, but the regular stuff seems to work just fine.
 
adk said:
I just used Simple Green on a plane today. It worked wonderrs on the 20 year old grease on the nose gear. I know there's an official "aviation grade" Simple Green, but the regular stuff seems to work just fine.
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Another thing to be careful with, an AC went out for Simple Green because it was causing corrosion on the bellies of airplanes. I have never tried the aviation grade yet, however I do love Simple Green for a lot of what I do on airplanes.
 
n57flyguy said:
Another thing to be careful with, an AC went out for Simple Green because it was causing corrosion on the bellies of airplanes.
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Interesting, so the belly sheet metal is more sensitive than the wing covering sheet metal? I wonder if this is intentional to make aircraft more like humans, more sensitive belly skin than arm/leg skin. :rolleyes:
 
I used to make some good money doing this on the side while instructing and working at the FBO, I found some stuff that works absolutely awesome for bug removal. You wont believe it but turtle wax makes a spray on wax/bug remover and you can use that on a farely clean aircraft (not something that is covered in dust without a rinse) and it will take the bugs right off and wax the surface and hardly any elbow grease needed. There is some stuff out there you have to watch out for with aluminum and corrosion but as long as you rinse rinse rinse afterward there should be no issues. This was in ref to the belly degreasing. For instance gunk engine degreaser works wonders but I would use soap and water after to wash away the remnants of that powerful cleaner.
 
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