Ammonia free glass cleaner?

cowman

cowman

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I keep this stuff at home for mostly automotive use. Glanced at the can and noted it said “ammonia free”.

What I always understood was normal glass cleaner was no good for aircraft windows because the ammonia would yellow the plastic over time. This doesn’t have ammonia though… so why wouldn’t I want to use it? The spray on foam sure looks a lot like the aviation products I’ve used. Would be a lot handier to just grab one of these before running out to the airport vs trying to remember how much is left in the can in the plane and putting an online order in.

62940512-8765-44A6-BEA1-29ABB0E846B8.jpeg
 
Water is free. Dollar store Pledge is $1.25.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
Assuming I looked up the correct product, the safety data sheet claims less than 5% of ethanol and less than 5% 2-butoxyethanol (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2-Butoxyethanol )
The propellant is propane and butane (total 10% by volume)- no smoking when you use it. I'm guessing the rest of the product (~80%) is water.

https://www.spraywayinc.com/sites/all/themes/theme687/msds/sw050.pdf
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So, I'm not used to reading MSDS docs nor am I chemist but I searched for the MSDS for Prist Windshield cleaner(the stuff I've been using on my plane forever) and it looks awfully similar.
https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/pdf/09-02049_sds-rev2.pdf
 
cowman said:
So, I'm not used to reading MSDS docs nor am I chemist but I searched for the MSDS for Prist Windshield cleaner(the stuff I've been using on my plane forever) and it looks awfully similar.
https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/pdf/09-02049_sds-rev2.pdf
Click to expand...
They both have the 2-butoxyethanol (an ether). The Prist product replaced the ethanol (about the same concentration as you find in most beer in the Sprayway can) with 2-propanol (rubbing alcohol), but a much higher (2x to 4x) concentration. They both use propane and butane as a propellent. As a chemist, I'd use either one. The Prist product will do a better job of removing any grease or oil because of the higher concentration of 2-propanol, which dissolves grease better. Prist also has a higher concentration of 2-butoxyethanol, which is also good for cleaning grease or oil. Prist has a range of 15 to 30% compounds that dissolve greasy molecules while Sprayway has less than 10%.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
They both have the 2-butoxyethanol (an ether). The Prist product replaced the ethanol (about the same concentration as you find in most beer in the Sprayway can) with 2-propanol (rubbing alcohol), but a much higher (2x to 4x) concentration. They both use propane and butane as a propellent. As a chemist, I'd use either one. The Prist product will do a better job of removing any grease or oil because of the higher concentration of 2-propanol, which dissolves grease better. Prist also has a higher concentration of 2-butoxyethanol, which is also good for cleaning grease or oil. Prist has a range of 15 to 30% compounds that dissolve greasy molecules while Sprayway has less than 10%.
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Most of what I’m cleaning off is hangar dust and occasionally bird crap so it will probably work just as well.
 
For hangar dust, the best thing is clean water.
 
JScarry said:
Water is free. Dollar store Pledge is $1.25.
Click to expand...
I know many people use Pledge and I have too over the years. At a fly-in @Travis L found his plane covered in ants. Best we could tell is they liked the lemon pledge!
 
I use Novus Plastic Clean and Shine #1. It is a dilute solution of isopropanol and silicone which will not harm acrylic windows and windshields. The silicone helps bugs and dirt not stubbornly stick, and can partially mask fine scratches.
 
Bought a can of Sprayway yesterday. It’s the best cleaner I’ve ever used. Great recommendation!
 
We use deionized water for the most part on the canopies at work. If that doesn’t do the job, we move to a di water and alcohol mix. Never had to go past that point.
 
Craig said:
We use deionized water for the most part on the canopies at work. If that doesn’t do the job, we move to a di water and alcohol mix. Never had to go past that point.
Click to expand...
For the most part, that describes the two products mentioned in this thread.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
For the most part, that describes the two products mentioned in this thread.
Click to expand...

Big difference, I forgot to mention, is that our one with alcohol is blended to a 50/50 mix of DI water and 99% isopropyl, and comes in a squeeze bottle. No other chemicals in it.
 
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