What are other folks doing to wash their planes after taking them out and getting them all dusty and muddy? We could separate responses into fabric/ aluminum/ composite, I suppose.

Also- Any good tips for if you don't have a pressurized hose? (I happen to have a LOT of water-charged fire extinguishers which I have used, even filling them with hot water on occasion. Have also hauled buckets of creek water.

For the Anchorage crowd: I've seen what looks like a plane wash facility at MRI near Northern Lights, but never tried to use it. Any experience with those?

Warm here today- feels like breakup (aka mud) season is coming.

-DP

Wash?????

Wash an airplane????????

Gump

I've been experimenting on what to use to get the bugs off my fabric leading edge. The armor all "Cleaning Wipes" work pretty good.

Has anyone tried the new product called RejeX? It is manufactured by Corrosion Technologies Corporation, is supposed to repel dirt, make cleaning after flight a simple wipe-off including bugs, and is supposed to last a full year. It is advertised for multi surfaces, metal, wood, paint, plastic, etc., but nothing is mentioned about using it on fabric. I would like to use something like that on my Pacer, but I'm not going to be the first one to try it. Does anyone have any experience with this stuff?
MontanaPacer

GumpAir wrote:Wash?????

Wash an airplane????????

Gump

Well, that sums up my past M.O., but then everybody starting putting these pretty shots up on the "Show us your plane" thread...

The wash rack at MRI is nice, but they only put the hose out and turn the water on in the summertime... Its on the NE corner of the Maintenance building.

Lake Hood as a similar setup, although not quite as nice, over across the street from the old AIA Maintenance buildings. (There is a steel cage on the ground that contains the water valve/hose, and a grate in the pavement for runoff) Its not available till summertime either...

Till then, tune-ups with Simple Green and paper towels are the name of the game.

Bob K.
Anchorage, AK

Ya I can't imagine washing a plane when it's -30F much less when it's 60F here in Ca. Mine gets it bout 1x a year. I don't use a pressure washer on paint, at least not up close unless I wanna blow the paint off.

I have a regular garden hose, and haul my propane-powered turkey fryer out there. I fill it with water and crank the flame, and a short while later I've got hot water for suds that makes washing a plane in cold weather a little more tolerable. Long handled soft brush for the wings.

Of course, this is Oregon cold weather, nothing freezing on the spot.

I'd be wary of using a pressure washer on my plane. The smaller ones will just beat the clearcoat, but higher volume ones can dent.

Best way is to fly to Mulege in BAJA and get Juan or his cousin to wash and wax it for 45 bucks while you are in Hotel Sarinidad sipping cool drinks. don't they have that service in alaska

Tim

Amazing what you can do with a bucket of warm water, a sponge, a towel and the Simple Green aircraft formula. No hose required. With a Franklin I get a fairly oily belly and the Simple Green cuts it fine.

If it is cold I just moisten an old towel and wipe down the Simple Green sprayed directly on the plane.

There is anecdotal evidence that the regular Simple Green doesn't like aluminum and vice versa which is why I switched to their aviation formula.

I just use a damp/wet towel or rag to get the dust or mud off then Turtle wax. And a good way to get bugs off the leading edge is to wipe it down in the morning when the dew has had a chance to soften the bugs. Works like a charm. Or try Grump's way.

MontanaPacer wrote:Has anyone tried the new product called RejeX? It is manufactured by Corrosion Technologies Corporation, is supposed to repel dirt, make cleaning after flight a simple wipe-off including bugs, and is supposed to last a full year. It is advertised for multi surfaces, metal, wood, paint, plastic, etc., but nothing is mentioned about using it on fabric. I would like to use something like that on my Pacer, but I'm not going to be the first one to try it. Does anyone have any experience with this stuff?
MontanaPacer

I've tried it on a couple birds that get daily pressure washer and brush baths in the summer and my experimental that gets wiped down with just water after every flight. None of them are fabric but I wouldn't hesitate to use it on fabric if the paint is good. It seems to make the water wipe down go pretty easy for bugs, and seems to last for a while. On the brush and pressure washed birds I don't think it lasts very long and I was a bit disappointed with the performance keeping the turbine exhaust off. 2 cents worth.
d

you know those center pivot irrigation rigs? Well that stream at the outside end (for the corners), that's for airplane washing...

But make sure it is not near any large livestock facilities.

BobK wrote:The wash rack at MRI is nice, but they only put the hose out and turn the water on in the summertime... Its on the NE corner of the Maintenance building.

Lake Hood as a similar setup, although not quite as nice, over across the street from the old AIA Maintenance buildings. (There is a steel cage on the ground that contains the water valve/hose, and a grate in the pavement for runoff) Its not available till summertime either...

Till then, tune-ups with Simple Green and paper towels are the name of the game.

Bob K.
Anchorage, AK

Best make sure it's not regular Simple Green. Read the back destructions carefully - - it's corrosive to aluminum long term. They do make a version that is aluminum safe.

When there's no water pressure, and you happen to have a pressure washer sitting around, it should accept gravity feed to the pump and suck water at the pump intake. A 20 gallon barrel in the pick up truck will wash several planes! When using a pressure washer, of course, hang back a ways and don't get too close.

If not too dirty, I use a few quarts of water in a bucket and a product called Protect-All. One capful and no need to rinse. Those yellow micro-fiber towels from Costco are amazing, work like shammys, and are all I use on Plexiglass.

bumper

BobK wrote:The wash rack at MRI is nice, but they only put the hose out and turn the water on in the summertime... Its on the NE corner of the Maintenance building.

Lake Hood as a similar setup, although not quite as nice, over across the street from the old AIA Maintenance buildings. (There is a steel cage on the ground that contains the water valve/hose, and a grate in the pavement for runoff) Its not available till summertime either...

Till then, tune-ups with Simple Green and paper towels are the name of the game.

Bob K.
Anchorage, AK

The problem with the MRI wash rack, other than it's only useable in the Summer, is that they want you to only use water and water only....no soap, no simple green, no nothing. It's all about non-biodegradable stuff getting into the ground water. The fact that most of MRI is built on the old land fill with methane gas vents all over the place is ignored......just don't use any soap. Doesn't make sense to me. Why have a wash rack if you can't really use it?

At my airport you are not allowed to bring your own water and pump. There are drains by every row of hangars but they don't want us to put soap or chemical down them. They have an approved wash rack. There is air there too. The rack is open year around.

I don't like washing in the direct sun in the summer.

I have a 12V 14 gallon sprayer. I bring my 5 gallon bucket with soap and water. I use the about 5 gallons to wet and rinse. I can wash it in my hangar and 5 gallons evaporates in a day.

Costco Oil Eater works well for me to get the belly clean. I use soap and water on bugs. Miguiars cleaner wax. I also spray Lemon Pledge on wing leading edge and wind screen. Makes the bugs come off much easier.

MontanaPacer wrote:Has anyone tried the new product called RejeX?

I've been using it for a few years on leading edges, struts and cowling, and really like it. It's like a super-duper wax and lasts about a year. I just use a lightly damp microfiber cloth to easily wipe bugs off.

RobBurson wrote:I don't like washing in the direct sun in the summer.

Yeah- streaks. I've thought about washing the plane during a heavy rain, but I can't say I've ever motivated to do it

I've found that Pledge works good on the prop blades, too. Keeps the aluminum sealed from corrosion and is easier to clean.

Simple green and a good rinse has always worked well. You must rinse unprotected or unpainted aluminum well, but nothing cleans bugs off the wing leading edges better and cheaper than properly diluted Simple Green in my estimation.
From the Simple Green Website:
"Aluminum - Is it safe to use Simple Green® on aluminum?
When used with caution and according to the instructions, Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner has been safely and successfully used to clean aluminum. Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner, Crystal Simple Green® Cleaner/Degreaser, Simple Green Pressure Washer Concentrates, and Pro Series™ Simple Green® Automotive Cleaner have been used on aircraft, automotive, industrial and consumer aluminum items for over 20 years. However, caution and common sense must be used: aluminum is a soft metal that easily corrodes with unprotected exposure to water. The aqueous-base and alkalinity of Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner can accelerate the corrosion process. Therefore, contact times for unprotected or unpainted aluminum surfaces should be kept as brief as the job will allow - never for more than 10 minutes. Large cleaning jobs should be conducted in smaller-area stages to achieve lower contact time. Rinsing after cleaning should always be extremely thorough - paying special attention to flush out cracks and crevices to remove all Simple Green® product residues. Unfinished, uncoated or unpainted aluminum cleaned with Simple Green products should receive some sort of protectant after cleaning to prevent oxidation.

Simple Green has also developed break-through water based cleaners that are safe for use on metals, plastics, rubber and high tech alloys. Extreme Simple Green® Aircraft & Precision Cleaner and Simple Green® Pro HD are available on both the industrial and retail markets, respectively. These products were initially developed for the aircraft industry and extensive testing shows that they are safe and effective on a variety of metals and other sensitive surfaces even in the most extreme circumstances."