Cleaning Fabric Covered Aircraft

[J.A.F.O.]

I know plenty of you out there have real aircraft, so my question is quite simply:

What is the best way to clean and polish fabric covered aircraft?

[DubTrub]

For everyday dirt: mild soap (not detergent) and lots of water. Fly the aeroplane after washing to dry out the inevitable ingress of water into the airframe, then polish if needs be.
For oil, stains etc, a mild solvent such as "panel wipe" available from car resprayers etc.

For polishing use a non-silicone wax, carnuba (sp?) wax for example.

For transparencies, use lemon pledge.

Hope this helps.

[LowNSlow]

As a general tip, always use clean soft cloth to polish the windows and light covers. Paper towels can scratch perspex!

I've always used Sparkle on the perspex but have recently bought a can of Plexus which is expensive but very good. I usually use Pledge or similar on the leading edges and prop blades to get the bugs off.

[tmmorris]

always use clean soft cloth to polish the windows and light covers

and don't move the cloth in circles, do straight lines up and down, then across. This helps reduce glare from reflection off tiny scratches.

Tim

[stiknruda]

I avoid putting water and soap near mine and use Mr Muscle window cleaner to get rid of all the wee bugs and then it gets polished with Autoglym.

Under the belly I remove all the oil/smoke/exhaust detritus with Avgas - then a quick rub with a Mr M impregnated cloth. For cloth I tend to use old t-shirt/sweat shirts.

I use Plexus, too, and really do think that it is a great product.

[TheBeeKeeper]

stiknruda

Mr Muscle.... AutoGlym, would this be appropriate for matt finish paint job? I guess a lick of polish would prevent flies from sticking.... or at least make them easier to wsh off. However, would that make a WW2 matt paint job look glossy?

Just Curious.....

BK

[J.A.F.O.]

Thanks everyone.

Stik - Mr Muscle on the fabric?

[stiknruda]

My fabric aircraft is two pack epoxy painted and is very shiny! :cool:

Mr Muscle on the fabric - yes. I don't drench it, just scoosh it on and wipe away the bugs.

Would Autoglym detract from the matt drab of military colour schemes, I don't know but I'd do a sample and see.

Stik

[DubTrub]

Be careful with Mr Muscle on single-pack paints (such as Poly-Tone).

I do use it, but only very sparingly.

[LowNSlow]

Autoglym would probably put some shine on your matt paint. It put a shine on the bits of my Auster where the paint had gone matt. Memo to self, don't forget to clean the aeroplane ALL over this year!

Never, ever clean the oil and goop off the underside of your aeroplane using Gunk. I cleaned my old Cub with it once and the stink hung around the hangar for weeks.

If you use a pressure washer don't get too close or you might find a lot of instant unpainted patches :uhoh: . Also be VERY careful about which direction you spray in. Try to spray from the direction of flight as the gubbins that face into the breeze are designed for it. Squirt high pressure water the wrong way and you can suddenly find water in amongst your electrics and interior which is not generally considered to be a good thing! Don't forget to reapply oil / grease to all the bits where you've washed it off!

[Small Rodent Driver]

Just cleaned Cub this weekend (or rather wife claims to have done most of it).

I used a proprietary detergent based motorcycle cleaner to remove oil and crud from engine areas and underneath. Also good for bug removal.

I then washed it with a good automotive shampoo and plenty of water. (not washing up liquid as this apparently contains heaps of salt)

Leathered dry and applied Mer automotive wax / polish as recomended by a pal in the car restoration business. Boy does it shine.

Transparencies were done with Mr M to remove the worst of the crud and finished with Lemon Pledge.

I'm now hoping for another 10 knots on the cruise :D

Go on. Somebody tell me I've knackered the fabric with these potions:confused:

[J.A.F.O.]

SRD

Either you've not done any damage or people are too afraid to tell you just how much damage you've done.

:E

Thanks all for your ideas and suggestions.

[J.A.F.O.]

Thanks everyone - I've tried it and just a "scoosh" of Mr Muscle worked a treat.

Cheers.

[javelin]

WD40 can prevent the bugs from sticking on leading edges. Light spray onto a cloth, wipe on, wipe off.

For a laugh, have a look at this website called 2000 uses for WD40 - The product celebrated some anniversary this summer and there was this bloke on talking about what it had been used for. The most bizarre was down in deepest, darkest Africa, they sprayed it on their arthritic joints and swore it cured them. When the doctor checked the people over he did find that the symptoms were reduced - Weird !

http://www.twbc.org/wd40.htm

[Monocock]

I use "Mer" every time.

The shine is awesome and it will chamois into a shine for many washes afterwards.

Mind you, I've got a proper plane, not one of these wood and paper ones:}