Piper headliner (was: simple and cheap tricks for your plane)

[Prime]

We have a Cherokee 140. I want to know if anybody knows the simple
and cheap trick to clean our headliner. It is actually in fine
condition, but it has a LOT of brownish spotting on it, apparently
caused by moisture (you know, condensation, leakage, etc. - not
that OUR plane leaks!). It looks like crap. The headliner appears
to be a heavy fabric, almost seems like it is vinyl coated.

I tried washing it, spraying it with a variety of liquids (ammonia,
bleach and water, Formula 409). They helped to reduce the intensity
of the spots by about 30%, which is not nearly enough.

Ideas?

Tim Long
CMA, CA

[Jim]

You'd probably have to get Billy Mays to come do it himself for it to work,
but on TV Oxi-Clean seems to work :)
--
Jim Burns III

Remove "nospam" to reply

"Prime" > wrote in message
...
> We have a Cherokee 140. I want to know if anybody knows the simple
> and cheap trick to clean our headliner. It is actually in fine
> condition, but it has a LOT of brownish spotting on it, apparently
> caused by moisture (you know, condensation, leakage, etc. - not
> that OUR plane leaks!). It looks like crap. The headliner appears
> to be a heavy fabric, almost seems like it is vinyl coated.
>
> I tried washing it, spraying it with a variety of liquids (ammonia,
> bleach and water, Formula 409). They helped to reduce the intensity
> of the spots by about 30%, which is not nearly enough.
>
> Ideas?
>
> Tim Long
> CMA, CA

[Jay Honeck]

> Ideas?

Try Castrol's "Super Clean."

That stuff seems to remove just about anything. We use it on literally
every tough stain at the hotel.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[hlongworth]

Prime > wrote in message >...
> We have a Cherokee 140. I want to know if anybody knows the simple
> and cheap trick to clean our headliner.

We used vinyl spray paints to rejuvenate the interior of our 1970
Cardinal. The headiner, plastics and vinyl panels now look pristine.
We used two types of paints (Krylon fusion and SEM vinyl paint)

http://www.krylon.com/product/gp_product_detail.asp?sgID=GP07

http://www.levineautoparts.com/semvinandpla.html

Our initial test showed that it took fewer coats to cover
stains/old color with Krylon so we chose it for the headliner and
upper plastic/panels. and used the more durable SEM paint for lower
plastic/panels. The Krylon fusion worked great on the headliner and
plastics but remained sticky on the vinyl panels (after weeks!). We
ended up repainting the vinyl panels with SEM paints. Krylon fusion
paints can be found at many hardware stores including walmart. We had
to order the SEM paint through an autopart. This was part of the
reason going with Krylon. It we were to do it all over again, we would
just use SEM vinyl paint for everything.

Do remember to take pictures during the headliner removal process.
We did not any pictures or notes!. The entire interior was stripped
bare last summer and we had just recently put everything back together
(had to wait for the annual then was 'grounded' 3 months for an engine
rebuilt). Everything felt into places in the end but it would have
been easier with better planning.

[atis118]

I bought a pack of those Armour All wipes and was amazed with how well
they cleaned up the interior plastic and headliner. The headliner did
not get as clean as the rest of the plastic because the headliner in
my Dakota 236 has a weave pattern. But these wipes did remove enough
to make a drastic difference. I bought the orange kind, and I found
that they also worked really well on the exterior of the plane for oil
marks and bird poop!

Greg King
KVNY




Prime > wrote in message >...
> We have a Cherokee 140. I want to know if anybody knows the simple
> and cheap trick to clean our headliner. It is actually in fine
> condition, but it has a LOT of brownish spotting on it, apparently
> caused by moisture (you know, condensation, leakage, etc. - not
> that OUR plane leaks!). It looks like crap. The headliner appears
> to be a heavy fabric, almost seems like it is vinyl coated.
>
> I tried washing it, spraying it with a variety of liquids (ammonia,
> bleach and water, Formula 409). They helped to reduce the intensity
> of the spots by about 30%, which is not nearly enough.
>
> Ideas?
>
> Tim Long
> CMA, CA

[Mike Spera]

There is a quick and easy way to make a Piper headliner look good. Use
shoe polish. The kind that is in liquid form with the sponge applicator.
I think the brand that many of us remember is "Kiwi". It takes a while
to do it, but it covers most discolored spots and usually leaves a
uniform color. It is a LOT less messy than vinyl sprays and dyes. You
might want to get the plane up to about 65+ degrees F to use the stuff
(heated hangar or warm Southern climate). You have to tip the bottle
upside down and, if I remember right, touch the sponge enough to get it
to soak up some polish. You may have to depress the sponge enough to
scrunch the rubber collar that holds it. Put a rubber glove on one hand.
The stuff may drip so cover up the interior. Last guy I saw who did it
transformed a discolored, spotted headliner into like-new condition.

Try it on a small spot to see if you like the result.

Good Luck,
Mike

Prime wrote:
> We have a Cherokee 140. I want to know if anybody knows the simple
> and cheap trick to clean our headliner. It is actually in fine
> condition, but it has a LOT of brownish spotting on it, apparently
> caused by moisture (you know, condensation, leakage, etc. - not
> that OUR plane leaks!). It looks like crap. The headliner appears
> to be a heavy fabric, almost seems like it is vinyl coated.
>
> I tried washing it, spraying it with a variety of liquids (ammonia,
> bleach and water, Formula 409). They helped to reduce the intensity
> of the spots by about 30%, which is not nearly enough.
>
> Ideas?
>
> Tim Long
> CMA, CA


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[John]

I second the use of Kiwi white shoe polish.

You may have to do a few "coats" but it works great!

John

[Nathan Young]

On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 06:53:46 -0000, Prime >
wrote:

>We have a Cherokee 140. I want to know if anybody knows the simple
>and cheap trick to clean our headliner. It is actually in fine
>condition, but it has a LOT of brownish spotting on it, apparently
>caused by moisture (you know, condensation, leakage, etc. - not
>that OUR plane leaks!). It looks like crap. The headliner appears
>to be a heavy fabric, almost seems like it is vinyl coated.
>
>I tried washing it, spraying it with a variety of liquids (ammonia,
>bleach and water, Formula 409). They helped to reduce the intensity
>of the spots by about 30%, which is not nearly enough.


The brown spotting is probably the glue that was used to help hold the
headliner up. I cleaned mine with several cleaners, and couldn't get
the brown spots clean. I ended up pulling the seats, masking off the
interior of the plane, and painted it with Krylon. Looks brand new.
Use several light coats, and get a respirator.

-Nathan

[Dan Thomas]

(hlongworth) wrote in message >...
> Prime > wrote in message >...
> > We have a Cherokee 140. I want to know if anybody knows the simple
> > and cheap trick to clean our headliner.
>
I can second the use of SEM paints. They work well, and make the
part look like new. Stained plastic is almost impossible to clean,
since the stain is often IN the plastic, not on it.
That said, the plastic interior parts in many older airplanes are
brittle and falling apart from heat and UV damage. Not worth fixing.
Google "Plane Plastics" for affordable replacements.

Dan

> We used vinyl spray paints to rejuvenate the interior of our 1970
> Cardinal. The headiner, plastics and vinyl panels now look pristine.
> We used two types of paints (Krylon fusion and SEM vinyl paint)
>
> http://www.krylon.com/product/gp_product_detail.asp?sgID=GP07
>
> http://www.levineautoparts.com/semvinandpla.html
>
> Our initial test showed that it took fewer coats to cover
> stains/old color with Krylon so we chose it for the headliner and
> upper plastic/panels. and used the more durable SEM paint for lower
> plastic/panels. The Krylon fusion worked great on the headliner and
> plastics but remained sticky on the vinyl panels (after weeks!). We
> ended up repainting the vinyl panels with SEM paints. Krylon fusion
> paints can be found at many hardware stores including walmart. We had
> to order the SEM paint through an autopart. This was part of the
> reason going with Krylon. It we were to do it all over again, we would
> just use SEM vinyl paint for everything.
>
> Do remember to take pictures during the headliner removal process.
> We did not any pictures or notes!. The entire interior was stripped
> bare last summer and we had just recently put everything back together
> (had to wait for the annual then was 'grounded' 3 months for an engine
> rebuilt). Everything felt into places in the end but it would have
> been easier with better planning.

[Don Tuite]

On Tue, 10 Feb 2004 11:51:21 GMT, "John"
> wrote:

>I second the use of Kiwi white shoe polish.
>
> You may have to do a few "coats" but it works great!

WHITE!!? What am I gonna do now with this cordovan headlliner?

Don

[G.R. Patterson III]

Mike Spera wrote:
>
> There is a quick and easy way to make a Piper headliner look good. Use
> shoe polish. The kind that is in liquid form with the sponge applicator.

I've not tried it, but I would think that leather dye might work a little better.

George Patterson
Love, n.: A form of temporary insanity afflicting the young. It is curable
either by marriage or by removal of the afflicted from the circumstances
under which he incurred the condition. It is sometimes fatal, but more
often to the physician than to the patient.