Windshield Cleaner

tfitch03

tfitch03

Pre-Flight
Joined
Jan 19, 2011
Messages
68
Location
Dallas
Display Name
Display name:
tfitch03
What cleaners are yall using on your plexi windows? Rain-x makes a product for plastic surfaces and it says it is safe for plexiglass. Does anyone have any experience with it?
 
This is what I use. I buy it at a motorsports shop (cheaper than the aviation outlets, of course). Popular with the motorcycle crowd around here.

IMG_0337.JPG
 
Never paper towels (I have a running argument with my CAP squadron about this - it's still using paper towels on a $half million dollar 182).
I start with water and soak the window if there are bugs.
Then a very wet chamois or my hand with lots more water, then dry with a soft towel.
Finish up with Pledge and soft cotton cloth (baby diapers from target, walmart, etc).

I'm usually not in a rush so it's not a problem to spend the time. Of course I hit the wing leading edges with the spray bottle of water so the bugs will come off easier, too. Let that soak while I do the windows. After the windows, grab a towel (now it's ok to use a paper towel!) and spray the wing edges with one hand and the other hand follows with the towel to wipe off bugs and dry.
 
Plexus is good but expensive. Prist is less than half the cost of plexus but doesn’t have the same polish. Novus is prolly as good as Plexus but much cheaper and not as convenient.

Pledge works about like Prist, maybe a little better finish. Nice lemon smell.

As Murphey said, always use a clean cotton cloth. I use a cloth only once then into the wash it goes. If a cloth touches the hangar floor it goes to the laundry pile. If there are a lot of bugs I’ll use a fresh cloth after the initial bug wipe.
 
ditto the bare hands and water for initial bug removal. One caution about rings on the wash hand ... use the other hand!
 
Plexus and paper towels. Paper towels don’t scratch my windows but the dust and dirt they pick up does. Fold the towels over to get a clean surface often.

Plexus sheds water better than anything else I’ve ever used. Light mist while flying toward a bright sky is better with Plexus. Some other cleaners let tiny droplets cling. Not good.
 
I'm old school, I use lemon pledge and a microfiber cloth (with the tag removed). It cleans very well and leaves a slick film that makes the next round of bugs and gunk even easier to remove.

048ebbb9-8ef1-4a20-befe-ec56a8239eea_1.1f00eb7f46ffaf23ffa0418966dd0252.jpeg
 
I'm also interested in suggestions and will be following this thread. I use Markley All-Kleer with Sontara wipes. The Sontara are washable and (almost) infinitely reusable, but I'm not happy with the All-Kleer. It tends to leave a residue unless it dries completely, which is the exception rather than the rule in New England. In the winter, it's completely unusable.
 
Soap and water and car wax.
 
I'm trying that plane perfect stuff from that dude who flies to mexico and comes back with packages of stuff.

'cleaning stuff', I think ;) ;)
 
interesting input. I always use microfiber towels and am glad to know of some more product options.
 
Walmart also sells cheap microfiber towels.
 
Brillianize is wonderful stuff. Just takes a little spritz, wipes off without smearing. As others have said, use a good-quality microfiber towel.

32 oz. bottle will probably last five years for me!
 
Pledge and clean white kitten to make sure I don’t scratch the windows
 
Actually, my current favorite product is (boardie) Plane Perfect's Eyes Outside stuff.
 
Has to be Lemon Pledge only. No brand x or cheapo brand. Pledge and newspaper is what my cfi used many moons ago.
 
I have seen paper towels scratch plexiglass. Some might not. I use cotton T shirts myself.
 
comancheflyer30 said:
Has to be Lemon Pledge only. No brand x or cheapo brand. Pledge and newspaper is what my cfi used many moons ago.
Click to expand...
Newsprint is an old trick from car washing days. Was told that it was the ink that left the shine on the windows. Considering the quality of newsprint I wouldn't use it on plexiglass. I've found too many chunks embedded in the paper.
 
Clark1961 said:
Newsprint is an old trick from car washing days. Was told that it was the ink that left the shine on the windows. Considering the quality of newsprint I wouldn't use it on plexiglass. I've found too many chunks embedded in the paper.
Click to expand...
Agreed. There's a far cry between glass and acrylic. Even without "chunks" in the newspaper, you're likely scratching the windshield. I won't even use paper towels.
 
Plexus and those fancy disposable towels they sell for our windows.
 
The key idea is not to rub the windshield with anything that could contain a grain of dust. I think that’s the same idea of using bare hands and water, or Plexus and a clean microfiber towel. Lots of ways to accomplish the same thing. Just make sure there’s no gritty grains, of any size, getting rubbed on the plexiglas.

I wash the windshield along with the rest of the plane after flying. The only thing that distinguishes the windshield is that it is done first, so that the water is still clean and so is the freshly laundered microfiber towel.

My 14-year-old windshield still looks great.
 
Last edited:
Having seen microfiber not get as clean as it should have when laundered, we’re using those DuPont made fancy paper towels and the Prist or the Nexus or whatever we happened to order. Pledge is fine too, but usually I use that on the leading edges.

Another couple of comments...

If bugs are really bad I just absolutely soak a regular beach towel and drape it on the plexi without rubbing or moving it... just a water transfer device... and let it sit for ten minutes. That will almost always loosen everything right up. Works on plexi and wing leading edges both.

I won’t rub in circles ever on plexi. Top to bottom, straight, and switch to a clean section of the fancy towel or cloth or whatever if there was ANY crud picked up for the next vertical pass. Circles and crud caught in the cloth will be a fast way to circular swirls and destroying the visibility through the plexi in low sun angles, forever.
 
When getting my ppl I didn't realize how crazed the schools windshields were until I did a night flight. The flood lights on the ramp really illustrated it.
 
50/50 mix of water and isopropyl alcohol, learned it from a line guy, works great for about $1 a bottle. Just cleaned bugs off an old airplane that had been sitting for years. The owner tried several products, this mix made it clean in just a couple of strokes.
 
I have used Lemon Pledge based on recommendations from this board. I've used it a bunch with a microfiber cloth, and I gotta be honest i'm not crazy about it. It leaves a film, almost foggy, visible layer behind. Maybe I am using to much....
 
MtnMarcus said:
I have used Lemon Pledge based on recommendations from this board. I've used it a bunch with a microfiber cloth, and I gotta be honest i'm not crazy about it. It leaves a film, almost foggy, visible layer behind. Maybe I am using to much....
Click to expand...

That’s what keeps Pledge from being perfect - it can be a little hard to get off. That foggy, visible layer might be fine for a leading edge, let’s say, but can be somewhat difficult to buff off plexiglass.

Seriously, try the Turtle Wax Ice Spray Detailer.

turtle-wax-ice-spray-detailer.jpg


If you hate it I’ll buy it from you!
 
WATER!!!!! I squirt water on my plexiglass after each flight and rub it with my bare hands in the direction of flight. No rings, watches or ID bracelets. After it is clean I wipe it down with a microfiber cloth again in the direction of flight. I have no scratches across my view to produce glare.
 
MtnMarcus said:
I have used Lemon Pledge based on recommendations from this board. I've used it a bunch with a microfiber cloth, and I gotta be honest i'm not crazy about it. It leaves a film, almost foggy, visible layer behind. Maybe I am using to much....
Click to expand...

Youre smearing it around, best to use dryish microfiber to wipe it off almost in a buffing like manner.
 
FastEddieB said:
That’s what keeps Pledge from being perfect - it can be a little hard to get off. That foggy, visible layer might be fine for a leading edge, let’s say, but can be somewhat difficult to buff off plexiglass.

Seriously, try the Turtle Wax Ice Spray Detailer.

turtle-wax-ice-spray-detailer.jpg


If you hate it I’ll buy it from you!
Click to expand...

I'll give it a try
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top