Limitations of Lemon Pledge

Jay Honeck wrote:
As many of you know, I am a big proponent of using Lemon Pledge to clean an
airplane. It can be used on the Plexiglas safely, and if you spray the
leading edges of the wings with it after each flight, the bugs just swish
right off with little effort.

Although I've used pledge on the windshields for 17 years, you should note
that some of the new plexiglass cleaners, like the product made by
Aeroshell, work SIGNIFICANTLY better than pledge.


In fact, that's ALL we have ever washed the plane with -- Lemon Pledge. No
soap and water has ever touched our plane.

I've never understood your obsession on this. Wash your damn plane once
in a while. Soap and water gets places, and disolves dirt, that you
can't get to with your obsessive use of pledge.


When we were at Sun N Fun a couple of weeks ago, however, I saw a most
peculiar speckle and stripe pattern on our wings and fuselage that was only
visible in the direct sunlight. There were obviously cleaner spots and
stripes, and Pledge would not touch them. You could spray, wipe and buff
till your heart's content, but all you were doing was buffing the surface --
this dirt was much deeper than that.

I've also seen this over the years. You really have not choice but to
strip off the wax every so often. I've always been uncomfortable with
using things that are too caustic. Sometimes, just a high concentration
of dish washing liquid works. You can also get some mild polishes that
will strip away the old wax.

--- Jay


--
__!__
Jay and Teresa Masino ___(_)___
http://www2.ari.net/jmasino ! ! !
http://www.oceancityairport.com
http://www.oc-adolfos.com

I've never understood your obsession on this. Wash your damn plane once
in a while. Soap and water gets places, and disolves dirt, that you
can't get to with your obsessive use of pledge.

The main reason is that Spam Cans aren't very waterproof.

After our plane was parked in Tennessee for three days in a steady rain, the
carpet by the door was wet, and our nice, new interior smelled dank. Excess
moisture was evident even after we got home, despite "air drying" for three
or four days -- and about ten hours in the air. This despite the fact that
the plane is air-tight in flight.

Cleaning my motorcycles with Pledge -- not water -- has meant that I have a
1988 Gold Wing that looks like it just rolled off the assembly line. No
moisture gets into the cracks and crevices, meaning that everything stays
fresh and clean longer. (Water works itself into areas that cannot be
dried, then attracts dirt and slowly gums up the works or corrodes whatever
it's sitting on. In fact, my hangar neighbor with a mid-50s Bonanza just
had to replace a chunk of skin metal on the bottom, due to corrosion. The
diagnosis: Water got into the area and could not drain. Over the years, it
literally ate a hole in the bottom of the plane!)

Pledge is still the best day-to-day cleaner polish for the money -- but it's
evident that a stronger detergent-type cleaner is needed every so often.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
The main reason is that Spam Cans aren't very waterproof.

All you have to do is whip it around the pattern a couple of times after
you wash it. It'll be fine. My plane sat outside for years before I
finally got my hangar. It was no big deal. You're being overly
obsessive.


--
__!__
Jay and Teresa Masino ___(_)___
http://www2.ari.net/jmasino ! ! !
http://www.oceancityairport.com
http://www.oc-adolfos.com

In article , Jay Masino wrote:
Jay Honeck wrote:
The main reason is that Spam Cans aren't very waterproof.

All you have to do is whip it around the pattern a couple of times after
you wash it. It'll be fine. My plane sat outside for years before I
finally got my hangar. It was no big deal. You're being overly
obsessive.

I'd agree with that. Immediately after washing a plane, I'll fly it.
You've just done the most thorough preflight you'll probably do in a
while (it's amazing what you can find when carefully cleaning an
aircraft) so I might as well go and fly. We also put corrosion inhibitor
inside the wings as soon as we got the plane.

The best thing I found for getting rid of the grime was soap/water, then
a rinse, then wiping dry with one of those synthetic chamois things that
feel like chicken skin. Then a bit of car polish.

I'd bet the old Bonanza that had the corrosion problem didn't fly
enough.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

I'd bet the old Bonanza that had the corrosion problem didn't fly
enough.

Maybe early in its life -- but not now. The current owner is the only guy
on the field that flies more than we do.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"