Belly Cleaning...?

Zatatime,

two things:

- Aviation Consumer did thorough testing of various cleaners a while
back. Have a look at their site. Non-aviation stuff (for cars) always
has the danger of harming the aluminum, but they investigated into that

- Once you have it clean, we got great results sealing it with RejeX, a
coating similar to wax, but better, from the same guys that make
CorrosionX. The dirt comes off much easier with RejeX.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 00:34:02 GMT, zatatime
wrote:

Hi,

I'm looking for ideas on how to best clean the belly of my plane.
It's a Cherokee and is pretty greasy/grimy/dirty underneath. I'm
hoping to find something I can buy from a non-aviation source (like a
supermarket or auto parts store), and it would be Great if I didn't
need any water.

A good quality creeper is a huge help to cleaning the belly.

I've always used GoJo hand cleaner. Very mild .. won't mess up your
paint or your hands. Smear it on .. let set a while .. wipe it off with a
rag soaked in clear water.




"zatatime" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I'm looking for ideas on how to best clean the belly of my plane.
It's a Cherokee and is pretty greasy/grimy/dirty underneath. I'm
hoping to find something I can buy from a non-aviation source (like a
supermarket or auto parts store), and it would be Great if I didn't
need any water.

TIA for any responses.

z

Can anyone verify that mineral spirits is safe on aluminum?

Marco


"Kyle Boatright" wrote in message
...

"zatatime" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I'm looking for ideas on how to best clean the belly of my plane.
It's a Cherokee and is pretty greasy/grimy/dirty underneath. I'm
hoping to find something I can buy from a non-aviation source (like a
supermarket or auto parts store), and it would be Great if I didn't
need any water.

TIA for any responses.

z

Get an automotive creeper and a package of a dozen cotton cloths. Next,
get
some nitrile gloves to protect your skin. After that, you need a solvent.
I'd recommend either mineral spirits, which is smelly, but gentile on
paint,
or one of the solvents auto body shops use as a final wipe-down prior to
painting an auto. You can usually find these solvents at a good auto
paint
store. A quart of the stuff lasts a long time...

Then, put on the gloves, dampen a cloth in your chosen solvent, climb on
the
creeper, and have at it. Shouldn't take more than 5-10 minutes. Oh, and
wear safety glasses. If the solvent doesn't drip into your eye, you're
sure
to poke an eye out with an antenna or something.

KB





Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

I used to use a hand cleaner and it worked very well. Lately I've started using
"Scrubbing bubbles" on recommendation by several people. A lot easier to use
and just as effective. Available in supermarjkets everywhere

John

Ditto the RejeX. It works great. Do the leading edges and keep a spray
bottle of water handy. I used to come back the next day (wife hates to
wait) to clean off the bugs & exhaust but now the job is quick, she even
helps.

--

Thx, {|;-)

Victor J. (Jim) Osborne, Jr.



take off my shoes to reply

Marco Leon wrote:

Can anyone verify that mineral spirits is safe on aluminum?

Yes. It's used constantly in parts washers and for cleaning engines. The shop at
Kupper used to buy it in 55 gallon drums.

George Patterson
None of us is as dumb as all of us.

"Newps" wrote in message ...
Bah, do that if you want all that labor. Get the non pumice GoJo and a
paintbrush. Paint it on, let sit for awhile and hose it off.

He did say no water if possible

Bob Noel wrote:

In article , zatatime
wrote:


Hi,

I'm looking for ideas on how to best clean the belly of my plane.
It's a Cherokee and is pretty greasy/grimy/dirty underneath. I'm
hoping to find something I can buy from a non-aviation source (like a
supermarket or auto parts store), and it would be Great if I didn't
need any water.


I've used regular car soap, with turtle wax and/or handcleaner
(that non-abrasive orange stuff) on the particularly greasy
parts.

I found that Dawn dish detergent worked a lot better than the car wash
solutions. It is rougher on the wax than car wash, but it gets off the
grime a lot better.


Matt

On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 10:08:44 -0400, Marco Leon wrote:

Can anyone verify that mineral spirits is safe on aluminum?

My Cessna's owners manual says to use Stoddard solvent to clean it with,
Stoddard Solvent is Mineral Spirits.