Interior Plastic Cleaning

[Constellation]

This is for the auto/plane detailers out there. I'm in the process of replacing the carpet and semi-restoring the interior of a 50+ year old Cessna 150. Regarding the interior plastics, does anyone have suggestions on appropriate products or techniques to remove years of grime and scuff marks? Most of the plastics are in overall good condition, so I've been considering possibly using a steam gun help to break down the dirt and then simply using a suitable cleaner/elbow grease to try and restore them as much as possible. Normally I'd trial and error this but thought I'd check with others with more experience before I attempted myself.

This is one of the panels below to give an idea.

 

[Roger Roger]

That stuff will crack if you look at it funny. Good luck.

 

[dx8709]

A gentle dilluted degreaser and a soft detailing brush or shaving brush will probably clean up the panels well. Work it over with gentle circles and wipe clean. Magic Eraser is good for removing scuffs but it is abrasive so use it very gently to rub off what remains of the scuffs. Apply 303 aerospace afterwards to protect against further UV damage. Unfortunately, after 50 yrs baking in the sun, much of the oils and plasticizer components in the dash and trim have offgassed and evaporated leaving it extremely brittle. For rubber trim and seals I also recommend cleaning with soap and water and applying a light layer of Shin-Etsu grease to plump up and condition them.

 

[bike21]

Haven't tried it on old airplane plastic, but a simple Magic Eraser does wonders on just about everything around the house without leaving scratches. Might try a small spot to see how it goes.

 

[killbilly]

I've found that Simple Green is excellent. If you dilute it a bit it's even gentler, but it's already pretty gentle.

 

[NovemberEcho]

Don’t recommend the steam cleaner cause you stand a good chance of melting plastic

 

[auw2fly]

A bit random, but this guy does some good restorations. Not sure how far you’re looking to go with your cleaning though...

 

[Constellation]

Thank you for the responses, everyone. I'll be tackling the first panel as a trial this weekend (using most of your suggestions) and I'll share some before and after.

Don’t recommend the steam cleaner cause you stand a good chance of melting plastic

I was definitely concerned about that. I got the idea from some of the more popular YouTube auto-detailers I watched, however, the automotive plastics they were using the steam gun on are likely far more durable than what I'll be working with. I'll probably not go that route.

 

[Inverted25]

We used to use magic erasers at my last job to clean the interior of our king airs. Seats walls etc. worked amazing


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Constellation]

It's not perfect but considerably better than they were before (certainly beats buying new plastics as this was about $20 in supplies).
Primarily accomplished using Simple Green as @killbilly suggested and then followed up with 303 Aerospace, as @dx8709 suggested. I opted against the Magic Eraser as it was a bit too abrasive for the surface.

Also considering the retrobright, hydrogen peroxide technique to "bleach" the plastics back (from the video @auw2fly posted), but may just repaint using this stuff from Texas Aeroplastics. I'll probably test both methods on the tail cone access cover as it is actually cracked quite badly and will need replacing anyway. Thanks again for everyone's input.

Before:

After

 

[Constellation]

Took a few weeks for the carpet to be delivered, but I was finally able to get everything back together. After cleaning the panels I ended up painting them with SEM's Super White. I was on the fence about buying new plastics after I had everything removed (some were cracked more than I had originally noticed), but for $30 in paint I think I've given them some extra life which will do for now.

Before:

After

 

[knot4u]

Took a few weeks for the carpet to be delivered, but I was finally able to get everything back together. After cleaning the panels I ended up painting them with SEM's Super White. I was on the fence about buying new plastics after I had everything removed (some were cracked more than I had originally noticed), but for $30 in paint I think I've given them some extra life which will do for now.

Before:
View attachment 53669
After
View attachment 53671

That looks very nice, a friend of mine started with a 150. He's an IA/AP but occasionally he'd need a hand so I'd go over and help replace windows and buck a few rivets. It ended up like something from "Pimp My Ride" with leather, a fancy paint job and a nice panel (he used it to commute). This is a pivotal point in your life. Once you start proudly flying your beautiful airplane around (especially after you get it painted, you're going to paint it right?) you're going to see some other airplane that you'll secretly covet, for my friend it was the RV-8. So he did a HUGE amount of research and decided he had to have one. He decided to build one rather than buy so he could build it with all of the options he wanted rather than modify an existing one and he got a kit and got after it. A few years passed and an airplane was slowly taking shape in his garage when life got in the way, a new job and the time required to finish the pile of stabilizers, wings and a fuselage seemed almost insurmountable, but this is why research pays. There is a place in Texas that specializes in helping RV owners finish, so he packed up his almost finished airplane in a trailer and hauled it from SoCal to Texas. A few months later he went back and flew it home with an instructor. First order of business was getting proficient flying it and second was getting it painted. It was (is?) beautiful. Then life got in the way and he met a lovely woman. She wasn't a fan of small airplanes and the back seat of his RV-8 would be flying empty. My friend had always admired Bonanzas so he posted his RV for sale at a fair price and was happily suprised when the offers came in above the posted price and sold it. He used those funds to buy a Debonair, that seemed fine for a little bit, he basically restored and upgraded it (avionics and paint, partial interior). But apparently he needed a Bonanza so he sold the Debonair and bought one, I don't recall the model and regardless of him telling me why the Bonanza is better I still don't know, the numbers were ratcheting up at a rate I wouldn't be comfortable with. Everything was going along smoothly until he starts instrument training and realizes he'd like to stay tailwheel proficient, so he buys a kit for an RV-7. It an RV-8 with side by side seating. He called me the other day and told me he sold the Bonanza so he could buy a Baron. He bought a house out on the river and wants a twin for those long flights across the desert (he still hasn't finished his instrument rating and will be doing his multi in his airplane). I have no idea how he's leveraged himself into his current position, he's one of the smartest people I've ever met and I consider him one of my best friends.
I guess my point is BE CAREFUL OR YOU'LL END UP WITH A BARON.