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Dry washing


Joe Larussa

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I've owned my Mooney for nearly 3 years and I've NEVER washed it with water.  I use Wash-Wax-All and have been very happy.  I just bought a bottle of Collinite 845 (a liquid carnuba wax) to try as a more permanent wax, but have only done the cowling, so far; nice shine and is suppose to hold up well.

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Joe,

There is probably a statement available from your painter....

New paint is sensitive to a few things... mostly because it stays soft for a long period of time....  and may be sensitive to mechanical polishing...

Six months is pretty long in the tooth otherwise...

Best regards,

-a-

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2 minutes ago, carusoam said:

Joe,

There is probably a statement available from your painter....

New paint is sensitive to a few things... mostly because it stays soft for a long period of time....  and may be sensitive to mechanical polishing...

Six months is pretty long in the tooth otherwise...

Best regards,

-a-

I’ve washed several times the old fashion way. Looking for something new or better.

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Just now, toto said:

+1 for Wash Wax All.

This is the only product I ever use, and all you need is a spray bottle and some microfiber cloths. It's fantastic. 

https://washwax.com/collections/wash-wax-all

Just watched the video. Interesting stuff. So you’re not just smearing the dirt around? Doesn’t scratch the paint? Seems to good to be true.

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Just now, Joe Larussa said:

Just watched the video. Interesting stuff. So you’re not just smearing the dirt around? Doesn’t scratch the paint? Seems to good to be true.

I use a wet microfiber cloth to wash, one section at a time, and use a dry cloth to wipe off the excess wax residue. If the "washing" cloth starts to get visibly dirty, I swap it for a new one and continue. 

Never had any problems with scratching. It does a nice job. 

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Just now, toto said:

I use a wet microfiber cloth to wash, one section at a time, and use a dry cloth to wipe off the excess wax residue. If the "washing" cloth starts to get visibly dirty, I swap it for a new one and continue. 

Never had any problems with scratching. It does a nice job. 

I’m certainly not going off-roading with my plane, so it never gets to dirty. Mostly dust and bugs.

Thanks!

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Optimum  No Rinse (ONR), 1 oz in 2 gallons of water. 5 gal bucket. Microfiber towels.  Optimum big red sponge.  Wet wipe gently with sopping sponge.  Dry with microfiber towel.  Polish with another dry microfiber towel.  Do a section at a time (1/3 the wing is my section)

No hose, no rinsing.  The 2 gallons will do the whole plane with about half leftover.

When done: GTecniq Liquid Crystal C2V3.  Lightly spray a section.  Wipe off.  Polish with dry microfiber towel.

 

Magical.

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There are several good products for dry washing and in most cases it works very well.

But don't use wax. Use a paint sealant to maintain the finish. Rejex is tried and true, it works very well, or you can try the ceramic coatings that are all the rage. Any sealant will outlast and outshine wax, and protect the paint.  

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 Always wondered about the no water cleaning products as to whether they were as good at removing environmental contaminants, especially salt,  from the nooks and crannies as good as rinsing with water. I think for those of us that fly in coastal environments a good fresh water rinsing every once in a while is not a bad thing.

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6 hours ago, Bravoman said:

 Always wondered about the no water cleaning products as to whether they were as good at removing environmental contaminants, especially salt,  from the nooks and crannies as good as rinsing with water. I think for those of us that fly in coastal environments a good fresh water rinsing every once in a while is not a bad thing.

I take mine to the wash rack, and am just careful to not apply more water than a typical hard rain.   Back when I was a lineboy and had a small fleet of airplanes that I was responsible for keeping clean in the sooty German rain, we washed all of them regularly on the Army's wash rack  on our field and even used their wash mix that they used on the helicopters.   Turbine helicopters don't accumulate oil and dirt on the belly like recip airplanes do, and that stuff was nearly useless in getting it off.   Now we have a lot better stuff, and I use Goop hand cleaner on the grimy spots and it makes it easy...just rinse it well after.   So I do the belly and whatever else needs it with things like goop or other citrus-based stuff, and then take it to the wash rack and rain on it (cause I live in AZ and leaving it outside just gets it dusty).

So I agree, the occasional rinse is probably good for it, but you do have to be careful to be gentle and not force water anywhere.

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Also, fwiw, I used up the last of my bottle of wash-wax-all, which is good stuff, and used a bottle of Maguiar's Ultimate Waterless Wash & Wax, and I have to say I couldn't tell much difference between the two.   My airplane has that C2V3 coating on it, and I was cleaning off hand prints and general grime after some extended maintenance.   Both products cleaned everything up nicely with about the same effort and with the same results.   

 

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