carwash for planes?

Peter Ha

Peter Ha

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Hey folks,
What's the best way to wash my C150?
Is there airplane version of carwash that you can fly to?
Do you use dish soap?
 
I use a premium car wash, though I suspect you can get aviation versions. You start by degreasing the belly. You can use any kind of degreaser, I use a product from Plane Perfect which is run by member of this site. That said, lots of other degreasers work fine. Once the belly is clean you start at the top and work your way down. Simple green isn't good for aviation paint, though they do make an aviation version. A plastic scrubee will help get bugs off the leading edges and engine cowling. I use a microfiber mitt to wash mine, nothing touches the paint but microfiber. Once you're happy all the bugs are off and the aircraft is as clean as you can get it dry with a microfiber towel. Proceed to wax, again I use a wax from Plane Perfect. That stuff is spendy, but gives a shine like I've never seen. Carnauba wax won't do anything, you want a polymer wax and a good one.
 
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Peter Ha said:
Hey folks,
What's the best way to wash my C150?
Is there airplane version of carwash that you can fly to?
Do you use dish soap?
Click to expand...
From the bottom up, no hose. Use soft water from five gallon cans you bring from home. Do a small area at a time. Wash it with soap and water on a rag, damp-wipe it off and rinse clean in a plastic bucket of clean rinse water. Lots of paper towels and solvent for the belly. Doesn't really matter what the soap is, it's wiped off right away.
 
I wipe my airplane down with Aerocosmetics waterless cleaner. I use their "Belly soap" to clean the greasy stuff and exhaust soot. And, I use Plexus on the canopy. I use BugSlide on the leading edges. The more you use it, the easier it is to wipe the bugs off after each flight.

I'm just not a fan of "washing" airplanes. It may be PTSD from washing so many Navy airplanes. But, it seems to me, just wiping them down a little at a time keeps them cleaner. Do the leading edges after each flight, the belly and sooty areas every oil change, and the rest as needed.
 
Be careful using Dawn. It cleans well, but it also strips any wax or sealant that might be on the plane. If you plan to wax after washing, then use Dawn, but otherwise select a milder carwash soap. Same with aggressive solvents on the belly. You need them to clean the caked on goo, but it will come off easier if you treat it once clean, then use a milder soap once its coated.
 
At AJO there is a wash rack, east side, by the airport managers office. you should see a hose and drain provided.

no opinion on technique :D i hate that job.
 
Never squirt water at the wheel hubs. The bearing seals on airplanes are notoriously crude and ineffective, and water goes past them and contaminates the grease, creating acids that corrode the bearings and the inside of the wheels themselves.

Pressure washers can strip paint off and damage lap seams.

Squirting water at pitot and static ports is insane. Can damage the instruments.
 
Peter Ha said:
Hey folks,
What's the best way to wash my C150?
Is there airplane version of carwash that you can fly to?
Do you use dish soap?
Click to expand...
We have a “birdbath” at the airport. Concrete slab with drain and a hose. Bring your own soap and towels. I use an airplane degreaser on the belly. But truthfully, I don’t wash the plane. There’s always a local aviation group (99s, WAI, CAP cadets, etc) doing a bird wash to raise funds. So much easier for them to do it once a year.
 
Get your bugs and belly goop after each flight. I use lemon pledge on the canopy and dawn on the underside. There's plenty of "discussion" on those product choices.

Keep up with it and it's easy. Let it sit around and it can be more of a chore.
 
Yeah, once you wish the aircraft you'll want to clean bugs off the leading edges. I do this after every fight in the warm weather, not so much in the winter. Bugs don't fly around in the cold, they mostly die. Lets hear it for the cold.
 
What's the black greasy stuff that get's on the top of the wings, and trailing edges of ailerons, and flaps?
 
The official name for it is Spooge. Sometimes southerners call it Pooty.
 
Ravioli said:
There's plenty of "discussion" on those product choices.
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Indeed there are and you can spend exorbitant amounts of money buys pseudo-aircraft specific cleaners and waxes.

or...

you can find automotive cleaners that work just as well or better for a fraction of the price.

I'd rather spend my money on avgas than overpriced products...

...which are likely just repackaged automotive products anyway.

Whatever you do don't use a power washer and MAKE SURE what you are using is not corrosive to aluminum.

As I've shared here before:

timwinters said:
I do "the military test" and that is to soak a piece of skin in straight cleaner for a week (or is it two??...I don't recall)* and see how it fares. And I use a old dull piece of skin, that way it's easy to see if the cleaner etches it.

Cleaners like scrubbing bubbles and simple green will etch the skin...it comes out nice and shiny! Thus, I don't use them.

Awesome slightly etches, so I use it very sparingly. (BTW, Aviation Simple Green does also...never fully trust something just because it says "aviation".)

GoGo does absolutely nothing.

Castrol Purple degreaser will literally eat a hole in the skin and what's left will be pitted and black.

Engine Brite is somewhere between Scrubbing Bubbles and Castrol.

Most of my tests are dated...10...12 years ago. Formulas may have changed so I would highly recommend that you test any of the above for yourself.

Just like all things in life, you can either educate yourself or take your chances and hope for the best!

*I was taught to fly by a full bird colonel who was retired from the army. He gave me the military test document as a guide when we did the testing 17 years ago or so. Somewhere along the way though I've misplaced it, probably failed to copy it from an old computer to a new one. If anyone has it, I'd love to have a copy again!!
Click to expand...

I wonder how many of those aviation specialty cleaners can actually pass the test...
 
Stewartb said:
The official name for it is Spooge. Sometimes southerners call it Pooty.
Click to expand...

One person told me it might be Corrosion X seeping out.
It's only on the top of the wings and trailing edges as mentioned. Has no smell that I can detect.
Same texture as grease, but not slippery per se..not really sticky either though.
 
This stuff will soften bugs and let them be easily removed, and it leaves some wax behind to prevent further bug-sticking. I tried it on the bugged-up leading edge of an airplane and was really pleased.

41MLu9rFJ3L.jpg


There's also a non-wax version.
 
Car stuff works well.

Don’t use purple power or anything caustic

Non pumice gojo works wonders on greasy bellies, and lemon pledge and a CLEAN microfiber works well on plexiglass.


I wouldn’t pay the $$$ for the “airplane” products.
 
The airport where we get our annual has a guy that details planes. So once a year we have him thoroughly detail the outside. The rest of the US we spot clean with wash wax all.

As for bugs, water works very well. We keep a spray bottle in the hangar, hit the leading edges, let the water soak for a minute, then buff it out with a clean try cloth towel. Bugs come off easily.
 
Dan Thomas said:
This stuff will soften bugs and let them be easily removed, and it leaves some wax behind to prevent further bug-sticking. I tried it on the bugged-up leading edge of an airplane and was really pleased.

41MLu9rFJ3L.jpg


There's also a non-wax version.
Click to expand...


Yeah, Lucas slick mist speed wax works great also. That's what I used to clean bugs off of leading edges after flights.
 
I just get mine repainted every time it gets dirty. :)
 
I wipe bugs off and belly grease a few times a year, wash it? Nope.
 
A second vote for Lucas Slick - Especially during lovebug season in S. Florida
 
At my airport you can’t wash an airplane anymore....the environmental Nazis have prevented that. The beginning cost to out one in was $30k assuming the $10k worth of environmental studies was OK. Numbers are last I heard but it was stupid ridiculous. So now I fly 15 minutes away and do it.
 
We always used bristle brushes and Tide laundry detergent.

It cut the greasy mess and left a nice shine!
 
My airplane is in a hangar, I wash in the spring and at the end of the flying season. Spring, summer, and fall: I clean the bugs off the leading edge AND don't forget to clean the bugs off the leading edge and flat side of the prop....it makes a difference in cruise speed. I use TurtleWax ZipWax car wash.
 
Oh oh , I just cleaned the belly off my 172 using shop towels and av gas . The drain on fire wall makes for easy rag soaking. I used a old creeper I rebuilt that was left in the hanger . It all went well on a 30 degree afternoon with sun shining in the hanger doors. No bugs yet this winter.
 
bnt83 said:
I wipe bugs off and belly grease a few times a year, wash it? Nope.
Click to expand...

So you don't take pride in having a nice clean airplane? Each to his own I guess. I have 6 in the hangar now and each one is so clean you can lick the belly... And I also work 12 hour days at my job.
My mechanic loves when my airplanes come in for annual.
I guess I am just more anal than most....
But I am also the guy that looses my mind if someone gets in my car with a drink.... I don't like stained seats. LOL!cub 1.png Bonanza M35 2.jpeg
 
pigpenracing said:
So you don't take pride in having a nice clean airplane? Each to his own I guess. I have 6 in the hangar now and each one is so clean you can lick the belly... And I also work 12 hour days at my job.
My mechanic loves when my airplanes come in for annual.
I guess I am just more anal than most....
But I am also the guy that looses my mind if someone gets in my car with a drink.... I don't like stained seats. LOL!View attachment 83026 View attachment 83027
Click to expand...

...but the important question is if you let people wear shoes in your hanger...?

;)
 
The Lucky Strike gets washed once a year. I really don't do it well enough, I have neither sufficient time nor energy to detail it to my satisfaction. The Plane Perfect wax gives a shine unlike anything I've ever seen. If it wasn't so expensive I'd use it on my car. Worth every dime. Clean shiny airplanes fly faster, it's a fact.
 
IK04 said:
Has anyone ever attempted to lick your airplanes?

Asking for a friend...
Click to expand...

No, but I did take a toothbrush to the belly rivets this weekend. That took a while.

I find if I go too long cleaning the oil off the belly, that oil picks up dirt, then wiping it off pushes the mess into the rivet edges and overlaps.

I use WD40 for a quick underbelly spray, then use a creeper and a fist full of old undies to wipe and shine...I just make sure no one is around to see me using underwear to wipe my plane.

Wing leading edges get wiped during bug season, with water spray, then followed up by Pledge. Sometimes Pledge on the windows, sometimes Brillianize. After rain, wipe the plane down. Washed once in 3 years, cuz hadn’t flown in rain for a while.
 
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