jay honeck

As many of you know, I am a big proponent of using Lemon Pledge to clean an
airplane. It can be used on the Plexiglas safely, and if you spray the
leading edges of the wings with it after each flight, the bugs just swish
right off with little effort.

In fact, that's ALL we have ever washed the plane with -- Lemon Pledge. No
soap and water has ever touched our plane.

When we were at Sun N Fun a couple of weeks ago, however, I saw a most
peculiar speckle and stripe pattern on our wings and fuselage that was only
visible in the direct sunlight. There were obviously cleaner spots and
stripes, and Pledge would not touch them. You could spray, wipe and buff
till your heart's content, but all you were doing was buffing the surface --
this dirt was much deeper than that.

When we got home I hit a spot with some Castrol Super Clean, and *voila!* --
the whole spot became a much whiter, gleaming white. Apparently two years
of Lemon Pledging has actually sealed some dirt in, under a layer of Pledge
wax that the Pledge itself couldn't dissolve.

So, last night my son and I started the arduous task of washing every square
inch with Super Clean and diapers, followed immediately by a coat of
spray-on Turtle wax (to neutralize the caustic Super Clean).

He finished the under-side, while I did the top of both wings -- wow, what a
difference! What looked "clean and white" before is now almost blindingly
white. The dullness had crept up so slowly that we simply did not notice.

So, while we'll still hit the windshield, leading edges, and nose with
Pledge after each flight, our days of using it as an "overall" cleaner are
over -- although I'd like to find something less harsh than Super Clean.
Any suggestions?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

henry kisor

Jay, have you ever tried Wash Wax All? That's what I use and it seems to
work very well. It's made for airplanes, while Lemon Pledge, let's face it,
is made for furniture.

I've used Lemon Pledge on the windows but wonder if it might also seal dirt
in as it apparently did with your airplane fuselage. My old instructor
recommended Novus for the windows. I've used that for two years and it also
seems to do the job fine.

Henry

P.S. How much would your son charge to do the underwings and
undertailfeathers of a 150? That wrecks my back. Might be worth a trip out
to Iowa City.

nospamjmtl

Although I've used pledge on the windshields for 17 years, you should note
that some of the new plexiglass cleaners, like the product made by
Aeroshell, work SIGNIFICANTLY better than pledge.

I've never understood your obsession on this. Wash your damn plane once
in a while. Soap and water gets places, and disolves dirt, that you
can't get to with your obsessive use of pledge.

I've also seen this over the years. You really have not choice but to
strip off the wax every so often. I've always been uncomfortable with
using things that are too caustic. Sometimes, just a high concentration
of dish washing liquid works. You can also get some mild polishes that
will strip away the old wax.

--- Jay


--
__!__
Jay and Teresa Masino ___(_)___
http://www2.ari.net/jmasino ! ! !
http://www.oceancityairport.com
http://www.oc-adolfos.com

jay honeck

The main reason is that Spam Cans aren't very waterproof.

After our plane was parked in Tennessee for three days in a steady rain, the
carpet by the door was wet, and our nice, new interior smelled dank. Excess
moisture was evident even after we got home, despite "air drying" for three
or four days -- and about ten hours in the air. This despite the fact that
the plane is air-tight in flight.

Cleaning my motorcycles with Pledge -- not water -- has meant that I have a
1988 Gold Wing that looks like it just rolled off the assembly line. No
moisture gets into the cracks and crevices, meaning that everything stays
fresh and clean longer. (Water works itself into areas that cannot be
dried, then attracts dirt and slowly gums up the works or corrodes whatever
it's sitting on. In fact, my hangar neighbor with a mid-50s Bonanza just
had to replace a chunk of skin metal on the bottom, due to corrosion. The
diagnosis: Water got into the area and could not drain. Over the years, it
literally ate a hole in the bottom of the plane!)

Pledge is still the best day-to-day cleaner polish for the money -- but it's
evident that a stronger detergent-type cleaner is needed every so often.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

mike noel

I use about 1/2 cap of Woolite in 3 gallons of H20 and get wonderful
results. Even though the water in Tucson is quite 'hard', I get a spot free
plane after moderate rinsing and towel drying. Since I don't have access to
a hose at my shadeport, the Woolite solution is sprayed on with a pump up
sprayer, the dirt is knocked loose with a soft nylon brush sitting in a
bucket of water, then the plane is rinsed with another sprayer full of plane
water (no pun intended.)

--
Regards,
Mike
mikenoel@comcast.net
http://mywebpage.netscape.com/amountainaero/fspic1.html

aaron coolidge

: work very well. It's made for airplanes, while Lemon Pledge, let's face it,
: is made for furniture.

I also use wash-all wax-all (or whatever it's called). It comes in a 1-gal
jug, dilute 50/50 with water, and it does a spectacular job. It doesn't
leave that slight stickiness that pledge seems to leave, which is important
if your plane is outside! Get the "red label" super concentrated stuff.

I have been using Plexus window cleaner on the windows. It also works
quite well.
--
Aaron Coolidge

stu gotts

Okay, so you've admitted that you were wrong about the Pledge, now why
should be believe that Castrol Super Clean would not be as harmful as
Simple Green.

Sorry, all you Jay fans!

dave stadt

Heck, I do all three at the same time.....down wind slipping turns with full
flaps while spraying Simple Green all over the plane.

nospamjmtl

All you have to do is whip it around the pattern a couple of times after
you wash it. It'll be fine. My plane sat outside for years before I
finally got my hangar. It was no big deal. You're being overly
obsessive.


--
__!__
Jay and Teresa Masino ___(_)___
http://www2.ari.net/jmasino ! ! !
http://www.oceancityairport.com
http://www.oc-adolfos.com

bob fry

Jay and all,

Without question the best stuff I've found for cleaning airplanes is
Tomar TR-1000. It is designed to be safe for aluminum airplanes,
unlike the cleaning products you'll find in your local discount store.
It is extremely effective when diluted and used as directed.

Unfortunately it is expensive and not easy to find. I ordered a 5
gallon drum of it directly from the supplier, which added on shipping
costs. But it lasts a long time.

I wash my plane 2 or 3 times a year. I'm in a generally warm and dry
climate from April through October so I'm not worried about corrosion
that much. The wash rack at my airport has very hard water, so my
trick is to take a high-quality silicone rubber squeege, 1 to 2
gallons of distilled water, and a garden sprayer. After washing with
the TR-1000 (diluting as directed) and rinsing with the hose at the
wash rack, I squeege off the hard rinse water wherever possible. Then
I spray important areas like the plexiglass, or curved shapes I
couldn't squeege too well, with the distilled water--enough to make it
run off, displacing the hard water with distilled water. I towel dry
the other areas that I squeeged but didn't spray. Finally I'll fly it
around the pattern to air dry the crevices.