Best way to clean plexiglass: free

What kind of hard wax?

Lemon pledge also attracts bees out here in spring time... I switched to the other pledge for leading edges etc... Not the windows
 
I know of an owner of a large flight school who insists that everyone clean the aircraft windows with Pledge....

...and paper towels. :mad2:

Personally I like a clean towel, dish soap and a LOT of water. I hate spray cleaners because they smell, there's overspray, and it blows in your face if it's windy.
 
I've been flying the same airplane since 1988. My aircraft has the original factory windshield, It is not yellowing of grazed or scratched. I clean the winshield every time I fly it or if I'm traveling cross country I clean it at every fuel stop. I use an automotive cleaner wax with a clean rag. I apply the wax in a back and forth motion (never in a circular pattern). I never use water.

When I stop for fuel I tell the fuel guy not to touch the windshield. When they used to clean the windshield, I would spend weeks getting the scratches out.
 
Lemon pledge is worthy of my first post on the site
 
Pledge is great for bugs on the leading edges. Since it has hydrophobic constituents, it will dissolve the oils that get stuck to your airplane, but won't do anything to the paint.

I wouldn't even dream of using furniture polish on plexiglass. I don't care what the maintenance guys on some warbird say, it ain't their aircraft. Too much chemistry waiting to happen.
 
Old regular pledge was excellent. New Lemon Pledge degrades plexiglas.
 
Henning said:
Old regular pledge was excellent. New Lemon Pledge degrades plexiglas.
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The spray Pledge products all seem to be the same now. Silicone compounds, hydrocarbon solvents, some water, and a propellant (butane or similar).
 
I've been waiting to see if anyone put together Collenite Insulator Wax with this, guess not. Here's a tip that will save you tens of thousands of dollars in the cost of aircraft ownership extending the life of paint, plexiglas, plastic, vinyl, leather, polished metal, patinaed material as well; glass instruments and avionics as well, basically anything non cloth, although if you have kids and cloth it works better than Scotch Gaurd cleaning out with a simple shampooing. How ever the kids need airplane clothes because they'll be shiny too lol. This is the easiest way to care for any hard surface finish (even take it home for marble and stone to prevent stains and make easy cleaning. It's not expensive, under $20 even at premium retail, it works thin as well.

If you fell this advice has cash value, feel free to donate to my PayPal account , caphenning@ yahoo.com. :D Seriously, I'm broke lol.
 
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kimberlyanne546 said:
This reminds me of that VERY old Saturday Night Live commercial with Chevy Chase "It's a floor wax! No! It's a dessert topping!"


http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=1056743
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If it was only desert topping. Got a brushed stainless fridge or range? Use it to clean it, your windows too. It's the easiest way to clean smears, smudges and grime off your glass and smooth slick surfaces. After about 5 times cleaning you'll find less and less smears, smudges and grime to clean and it just wipes off. Microfiber rags and foam applicator are the key to controlling dust. Go to the nearest auto parts store or Wally World, cheap. Before you start get the applicator soaking wet and wring it out till its quite damp. If you squeeze it real tight, just a little spritz of water should come off. Now take your bottle of Collenite 845 Insulator Wax, shake very well, and apply a dollop about the size of a quarter. Try to spread that as far as you can rubbing briskly in a circular motion. You'll know you're done when it's real easy and smooth to keep rubbing. This should leave you with a thin film on 2-3 square feet. A thin film at a time is all you want. Remember, any film is excess and becomes dust. Dust is why Microfiber is important for your removal rags. You can then add another quarter sized dollop and repeat taking it further. Eventually you'll be able to cover large areas with just a dollop.

My stews love me for this method of cleaning everything. To quote the last, "I love you, you my new best friend, all these years I buy all these things and work so hard and not do as nice a yob."
 
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Henning said:
I've been waiting to see if anyone put together Collenite Insulator Wax with this, guess not. Here's a tip that will save you tens of thousands of dollars in the cost of aircraft ownership extending the life of paint, plexiglas, plastic, vinyl, leather, polished metal, patinaed material as well; glass instruments and avionics as well, basically anything non cloth, although if you have kids and cloth it works better than Scotch Gaurd cleaning out with a simple shampooing. How ever the kids need airplane clothes because they'll be shiny too lol. This is the easiest way to care for any hard surface finish (even take it home for marble and stone to prevent stains and make easy cleaning. It's not expensive, under $20 even at premium retail, it works thin as well.

If you fell this advice has cash value, feel free to donate to my PayPal account , caphenning@ yahoo.com. :D Seriously, I'm broke lol.
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First, it's spelled "Collinite"


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[FONT=Arial,Bold][FONT=Arial,Bold]Recommended for:​

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CLEAN, unblemished clear-coat, lacquer, and single stage auto paint, gel coat, fiberglass, and painted,
non-coated/coated metals (aluminum, chrome, brass, copper, stainless steel).
2a. [FONT=Arial,Bold][FONT=Arial,Bold]NOT for use on:​

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Rubber, black trim, vinyl, glass or non-painted plastic​
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Ref: http://www.collinite.com/assets/Uploads/Product-Tech-Sheets-PDF/TTech845pdf.pdf

Last time I looked, plexiglas is a plastic.
 
Yep, works great for the last 20 years. There are a couple of cheap plastic mirror surfaces that it doesn't work on and is a pain to get off true, but only one or two surfaces in all that time; my airplane windows have never suffered and are easy to wipe bugs off. I don't own the company nor stock nor an I being paid for endorsing it lol. I just use it and it works.

If one is concerned, try a test spot. The issue is only one of the carrier solvent, if it doesn't react applying it and wipes easily to a shiny surface, you are golden. If it feels like it's sticking and dragging as you try and wipe the smears away, you are having the reaction warned against. Not all plastics are the same, not even close. Same for vinyl, many new synthetic surfaces are not actually vinyl and the stuff is great on EXCEPT seats, too slick.
 
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Henning said:
Yep, woks great for the last 20 years. There are a couple of cheap plastic mirror surfaces that it doesn't work on and is a pain to get off true, but only one surface in all that time; my airplane windows have never suffered and are easy to wipe bugs off. I don't own the company nor stock nor an I being paid for endorsing it lol. I just use it and it works.

If one is concerned, try a test spot. The issue is only one of the carrier solvent, if it doesn't react applying it and wipes easily to a shiny surface, you are golden. If it feels like it's sticking and dragging as you try and wipe the smears away, you are having the reaction warned against. Not all plastics are the same, not even close.
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To a chemist, No s*** Sherlock.

The carrier for that stuff appears to be hydrocarbons, same as Pledge. They just leave out the silicone. You can probally make the stuff by dissolving Gulf wax in a little kerosene or Jet-A
 
Cap'n Jack said:
To a chemist, No s*** Sherlock.

The carrier for that stuff appears to be hydrocarbons, same as Pledge. They just leave out the silicone. You can probally make the stuff by dissolving Gulf wax in a little kerosene or Jet-A
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When I worked Jackup boats for Aries, we'd go out with a wireline line crew servicing a field scraping paraffin. What they pulled up hole is what I believe (only guessing) is the base solid, and then they have diluted it with something close to 'white gas' aka Coleman Lamp fuel, +\-. Thing is, they bring it to me pre mixed in a handy form with an excellent set of working characteristics. To me the $15 a bottle is the best bargain anyone gives me and I'll support their business.
 
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Oil field paraffin poured into cardboard egg cartons make great fire starters.

Only thing is...

Explain to the guy that he's supposed to break off just ONE of the "eggs" for lighting his fireplace.

We heard later that whole carton was a bit much when one of our Crude Reps was given a carton by the field crew. Just about burnt his house down. Ha. Dummy.
 
Henning said:
When I worked Jackup boats for Aries, we'd go out with a wireline line crew servicing a field scraping paraffin. What they pulled up hole is what I believe (only guessing) is the base solid, and then they have diluted it with something close to 'white gas' aka Coleman Lamp fuel, +\-. Thing is, they bring it to me pre mixed in a handy form with an excellent set of working characteristics. To me the $15 a bottle is the best bargain anyone gives me and I'll support their business.
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There's a lot of stuff out there that pretty much does the same thing. Like Lemon Pledge.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
There's a lot of stuff out there that pretty much does the same thing. Like Lemon Pledge.
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Not even close to the longevity or quality of finish, not even close; also per square foot of coverage Pledge in cans will cost 10 as much or more.
 
The only thing I can add to this long and rambling discussion is that all paper products are abrasive unless otherwise specified. The reason is that as a tree grows, silica grit becomes embedded in the cellulose fibers. The silica is not totally removed in the paper making process. I've designed some high speed paper moving products and within a few hours of operation the paper path looks like it has been lapped with a fine abrasive. Glass windows in the paper path are scratched and unusable.

Lens tissue is in the "otherwise specified" category. It is specially treated and processed to remove the silica grit.
 
Henning said:
Not even close to the longevity or quality of finish, not even close; also per square foot of coverage Pledge in cans will cost 10 as much or more.
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Yeah, but I'm not buying anything special.

Mothers' carauba wax would work just as well, and it's only $9 per bottle. You just gotta be careful of some of the other car waxes because some of them have kaolin (clay) in it to help remove oxidized paint. OTOH, Aeroshell Flight Jacket Plexicoat also has kaolin in it. My opinion is that the kaolin makes (very) fine scratches in whatever it's applied to.

It'd help if you actually had some chemistry background to back up your 'advice'
 
I use Wash Wax All for the plexi, and the entire plane. It isn't free, but it is the best I have found. I use it on my cars also.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
Yeah, but I'm not buying anything special.

Mothers' carauba wax would work just as well, and it's only $9 per bottle.
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You pay for it in 5 times the labor. Seriously, they found a magic spot with their blend. In many things you can take the same simple constituents and change their efficacy by changing the blend. We take time, perform tests, make measurements, and adjustments and sometimes we luck into that 'special blend' that comes together just right and gives you the best result, the one that makes you go "Yeah, perfect". That's what they found with this stuff. I'm in the business of taking care of high end finishes of high end equipment. I see all the stuff, I try it with an open mind. I'm always looking for what works best. What's going to work better, I'm always looking for improvement. This is the pinnacle product I have found in a career of doing so so far. Next week I may try a product that blows this out of the water and I'd switch. I just haven't found it yet.

That's the last I'll say on it. You can can be open minded and try something and perform an experiment to see if you might learn something, or you can sit their in your Dogmatic attitude of 'I will not try this product because it has the same things in it as this other product so there cannot be a difference' and stagnate in ignorance. Having saved yourself the effort of acquiring a product that isn't in the store down the street and is twice as expensive, you can use to console yourself as you use 5 times the effort of waxing. I'm sure you're familiar with the phrase 'penny wise pound foolish', well it applies to labor as well; that is unless you need the upper body workout.
 
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Without getting into a very technical disscussion of the chemical resistance of plexiglas (acrylic), the link below give a decent idea of what works and what should be avoided for use on acrylic plastics. Note that 100LL isn't particularly good for acrylic.

http://www.plexiglas.com/literature/pdf/100.pdf

Acrylic is relatively "soft" so the point of avoiding any abrasives is well taken. Personally, I've used spray Pledge for years with no ill effects. The Collinite looks to be an interesting product, worth some more investigation, hadn't heard of it before.

Gary
 
I've read a few places, that Pledge may cause yellowing of plexi, but so many people use it, that I find it hard to believe.
 
Anthony said:
I've read a few places, that Pledge may cause yellowing of plexi, but so many people use it, that I find it hard to believe.
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I used old regular Pledge Spray Wax on Isinglass on boats and it was great, Lemon Plegde OTOH would cause a yellowing and the Isinglass lasted about a year less before needing replacement. Not quite sure the differences in composition between the Isinglass and our airplane acrylic windows though. I don't use it as I only buy one product for everything, but I have heard similar complaints of yellowing windows on planes from it.
 
Henning said:
You pay for it in 5 times the labor. Seriously, they found a magic spot with their blend. In many things you can take the same simple constituents and change their efficacy by changing the blend. We take time, perform tests, make measurements, and adjustments and sometimes we luck into that 'special blend' that comes together just right and gives you the best result, the one that makes you go "Yeah, perfect". That's what they found with this stuff. I'm in the business of taking care of high end finishes of high end equipment. I see all the stuff, I try it with an open mind. I'm always looking for what works best. What's going to work better, I'm always looking for improvement. This is the pinnacle product I have found in a career of doing so so far. Next week I may try a product that blows this out of the water and I'd switch. I just haven't found it yet.

That's the last I'll say on it. You can can be open minded and try something and perform an experiment to see if you might learn something, or you can sit their in your Dogmatic attitude of 'I will not try this product because it has the same things in it as this other product so there cannot be a difference' and stagnate in ignorance. Having saved yourself the effort of acquiring a product that isn't in the store down the street and is twice as expensive, you can use to console yourself as you use 5 times the effort of waxing. I'm sure you're familiar with the phrase 'penny wise pound foolish', well it applies to labor as well; that is unless you need the upper body workout.
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Again, I know something about the chemistry behind this stuff. If the same products have the same ingredients in the same concentrations, they will work the same.

What part of that don't you get? No one wants to work harder than they have to- compounds with the same ingredients will tend towards the same formulations.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
Again, I know something about the chemistry behind this stuff. If the same products have the same ingredients in the same concentrations, they will work the same.

What part of that don't you get? No one wants to work harder than they have to- compounds with the same ingredients will tend towards the same formulations.
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Use what you please, try what you please or don't as you please. Out.
 
Ok windows and canopies are stupidly expensive, why do we insist on usuing hosehold cleaners that are not designed for this useage, when there is stuff like Plexus for a few bucks more that is specifically made for cleaning canopies?

Just saying...
 
I agree with Tom, no pledge. I use and tell my customers to use plexus or priest with a clean microfiber cloth. Also , the microfiber cloth should be machine washed before use.
 
You might get away with that once or twice, but don't make it a habit.


Oh, come on. You knew it was coming!
 
Funny. I just bought a 1973 Cessna 172 in January. This airplane is mint... Origional paint, interior and windows. Everything looks like a 5 year old airplane. The guy I bought it from babied it and owned it for 30 years. I asked how he kept those windows crystal clear for being so old. He used pledge since the day he had it...... Thats all I needed to hear.
 
Mkane05 said:
I agree with Tom, no pledge. I use and tell my customers to use plexus or priest with a clean microfiber cloth. Also , the microfiber cloth should be machine washed before use.
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If you want to buy more products, Plexus makes a good line of them. I've just found over the 35 years I've been doing both on a profession level (my first job was as Lot Boy at a used car lot in St Louis, 1976.) The best materials for caring for paint are also pretty much the best materials for caring for industrial grade plastics, so I don't buy separate product unless I have to due to some issue with the plastic, and even then the only difference is the finish coat.

The coating/surface care product industry is a huge scam.
 
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Henning said:
The coating/surface care product industry is a huge scam.
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Another industry demonized :rolleyes2:

Sold some paint that let a barnacle grow on your stern? There's good and bad players in all industries...
 
Cap'n Jack said:
Another industry demonized :rolleyes2:

Sold some paint that let a barnacle grow on your stern? There's good and bad players in all industries...
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No, many of them package $1.00 worth of "Mop & Glo" type product that lasts 2 weeks before it evaporates away, call it a "miracle" and sell it for $25. That is a scam. "Polyglycoat" was one of the biggest profit centers dealerships had, and it did nothing, it was gone in 2 weeks.
 
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It's no different from car dealers. Apply car wax, sell it as a "paint protection package"which is really nothing more than an insurance policy on your paint -- which covers pretty much nothing that would ever happen with a modern car anyway. Pure scam, and a HUGE profit center for the dealer, which is why they push it so hard.

What Henning said seems to be largely correct.
 
Henning said:
No, many of them package $1.00 worth of "Mop & Glo" type product that lasts 2 weeks before it evaporates away, call it a "miracle" and sell it for $25. That is a scam. "Polyglycoat" was one of the biggest profit centers dealerships had, and it did nothing, it was gone in 2 weeks.
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DaleB said:
It's no different from car dealers. Apply car wax, sell it as a "paint protection package"which is really nothing more than an insurance policy on your paint -- which covers pretty much nothing that would ever happen with a modern car anyway. Pure scam, and a HUGE profit center for the dealer, which is why they push it so hard.

What Henning said seems to be largely correct.
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And you guys just talked about the bad players....

The coat of paint protecting the car metal isn't a scam. Powder coating can be tough enough that bare metal sometimes has to be masked off so allow electrical connections to be made for proper gounding- a fastener thatis able to penetrate paint generally fails to penetrate powder coating. Even Mop & Glo, properly used, does a reasonable job protecting inexpensive plastic flooring.

To me, the coating industry is very large and includes paints, waxes, powder coating, and even the bluing that protects firearms as well as the scammers both of you described.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
And you guys just talked about the bad players....

The coat of paint protecting the car metal isn't a scam. Powder coating can be tough enough that bare metal sometimes has to be masked off so allow electrical connections to be made for proper gounding- a fastener thatis able to penetrate paint generally fails to penetrate powder coating. Even Mop & Glo, properly used, does a reasonable job protecting inexpensive plastic flooring.

To me, the coating industry is very large and includes paints, waxes, powder coating, and even the bluing that protects firearms as well as the scammers both of you described.
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Not the coatings, that's not the subject, the subject is the coating care industry. While Mop & Glo is fine on a floor, it's gone in a couple of weeks of sunshine. If you have a 30 yr old chalked out paint job and want it to look better in half an hours worth of no work for a fly in, it works fine. You buy it at the grocery store for a few bucks a bottle, not repackaged as a "Miracle in Paint Restoration" all over TV, that sir, is a scam.
 
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I didn't say squat about paint either. I was kvetching about the "paint protection" scam, which ranks right up there with dealer-applied rustproofing on the wasted money scale.

For Plexiglas and other similar acrylics... I generally flood with warm water, wait a bit, soap it up, dry it with microfiber. If it gets scratched or hazed, some Novus or other super-fine polishing compound will take care of it. I've never tried Pledge, but I have been known to use various waxes with no ill effects. I've never tried to stretch an aircraft windshield out 40+ years, though.
 
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