Favorite Post Flight Wipe Down/Bug Remover Product

[RoundTwo]

For years, I’ve been a fan of Mequiar’s Quick Detail spray but I recently tried another product, Lucas Slick Mist Speed Wax, and I like it better. It does a great job, goes on easy, comes off easy and really is a pleasure to use on leading edges covered in bug splat.

What is your favorite wipe down product?

[M20F]

Lemon pledge 

[Fly Boomer]

1 hour ago, RoundTwo said:

For years, I’ve been a fan of Mequiar’s Quick Detail spray but I recently tried another product, Lucas Slick Mist Speed Wax, and I like it better. It does a great job, goes on easy, comes off easy and really is a pleasure to use on leading edges covered in bug splat.

What is your favorite wipe down product?

The universal solvent -- near-boiling water from a hot pot.  Insulated rubber gloves.

[DXB]

13 minutes ago, Fly Boomer said:

The universal solvent -- near-boiling water from a hot pot.  Insulated rubber gloves.

Wow interesting and elegantly simple.  Not sure if any downsides to paint bonding?  If not, a hotpot in my hangar may be warranted. 

I use the expensive blue jug of Aero Cosmetics Wash Wax all, which seems mediocre in performance for this task. When the jug runs out this summer, I may switch to pledge or something else in this thread.

[Fly Boomer]

22 minutes ago, DXB said:

Wow interesting and elegantly simple.  Not sure if any downsides to paint bonding?  If not, a hotpot in my hangar may be warranted. 

I use the expensive blue jug of Aero Cosmetics Wash Wax all, which seems mediocre in performance for this task. When the jug runs out this summer, I may switch to pledge or something else in this thread.

I have TKS so most cleaners are verboten.  CAV suggests TKS fluid or 100LL -- both are a little messy.

[EricJ]

I switch between Meguiar's Ultimate Waterless Wash & Wax and aviation Simple Green for general touch-up cleaning.    If there are oily or greasy smudges, the Simple Green gets it pretty well, but just bugs or general crud gets cleaned easily with the Meguiar's.    If I use the Simple Green I'll generally go over it again with the Meguiar's so that it leaves a better finish.

 

[M20F]

The key is get it clean.  Water and a non scratch scrub pad does that.  Then you spray the hell out of it with pledge or the like.  That creates a wax build up.  Then you just spray and wipe after every flight and it is easy.  It comes right off and more wax keeps it from sticking.  

[MikeOH]

I've always been happy with the Blue Wash Wax All....don't know what I'm missing, I guess

[Wildhorsetrail]

And what do you guys use for a rag? Cotton? Paper towels?

Sent from my SM-A326U1 using Tapatalk

[jaylw314]

I just use a couple drops of car wash soap I bough at Costco 10 years ago into a half-gallon of water.  I use the same solution for car detailing and clay bar treatment.

I put it in one of those 2L pressurized hand sprayers and take it with me on flights.  I just spray the windshield a lot, then spend 5 minutes spraying and wiping the wings and cowl with a microfiber mophead.  Then I come back to the windshield, spray it again, and by now it's softened all the bug stuff enough I can just wipe everything off with a microfiber cloth.  Don't have to use any pressure wiping if you've let it soak for the 5 minutes.  

Edited May 19, 2023 by jaylw314

[201Mooniac]

This is what the paint shop (ArtCraft at KSMX) told me to use and it seems to work great: https://www.amazon.com/Ardex-Hydro-Gloss-Step-Speed/dp/B01CKJ7WWC/ref=sr_1_4?crid=116EGOKAEV5G&keywords=ardex+detailing+products&qid=1684528892&sprefix=ardex%2Caps%2C176&sr=8-4&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.006c50ae-5d4c-4777-9bc0-4513d670b6bc

[exM20K]

7 hours ago, Fly Boomer said:

I have TKS so most cleaners are verboten.  CAV suggests TKS fluid or 100LL -- both are a little messy.

They have some information on their website 

https://www.cav-systems.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/How-to-clean-your-TKS-panels.pdf

the image of the guy scrubbing with TKS fluid and no gloves makes me cringe.

I don’t remember ever cleaning them, though.  Frequent use seems sufficient.

@RoundTwo +1 on the Lucas product, it works great.

baby wipes are pretty good.

in the RV world, some use (unscented) dryer sheets, but I’m not ready to try that on the plane.  The front of a motor home can get pretty nasty, especially if the love bugs are out (a Florida delicacy).

-dan

[C.J.]

Lemon Pledge works great & it's way cheaper than any aviation marketed product. After applying Pledge a few times all that's needed afterwards is a $1 dollar spray bottle from Walmart filled with water. For a windshield I use a microfiber wipe, for wing leading edges, etc any paper towel will do.

[Skates97]

2 hours ago, Wildhorsetrail said:

And what do you guys use for a rag? Cotton? Paper towels?

Sent from my SM-A326U1 using Tapatalk
 

No paper towels, they are abrasive and will scratch it up. Buy some micro-fiber towels, they can be found everywhere. I only use new ones on the windows and windscreen. After they become used they are relegated to use on the rest of the plane.

[McMooney]

am i the only one that can't stand the feel of microfiber cloth?  really hate touching the stuff

[hammdo]

You should get ones made of better quality:

https://theragcompany.com/collections/all-microfiber/products/platinum-pluffle

these are great…

-Don

 

[EricJ]

6 hours ago, Wildhorsetrail said:

And what do you guys use for a rag? Cotton? Paper towels?

Sent from my SM-A326U1 using Tapatalk
 

Microfiber towels and/or blue shop towels.   +1 to never use common "paper" towels on anything that has a smooth finish, they're very abrasive.

[Wildhorsetrail]

17 hours ago, EricJ said:

Microfiber towels and/or blue shop towels.   +1 to never use common "paper" towels on anything that has a smooth finish, they're very abrasive.

Blue shop towels are also made of paper, are they less abrasive?

[GeeBee]

On 5/19/2023 at 9:35 AM, Fly Boomer said:

I have TKS so most cleaners are verboten.  CAV suggests TKS fluid or 100LL -- both are a little messy.

You can also use Isopropyl alcohol which you can buy at Costco really cheap and it is not messy, and much safer to use.

 

[Fly Boomer]

34 minutes ago, GeeBee said:

You can also use Isopropyl alcohol which you can buy at Costco really cheap and it is not messy, and much safer to use.

 

Good point.  I would be okay with that too, since one component of the TKS fluid is some kind of common alcohol.  But hot water works well enough for me.

[EricJ]

3 hours ago, Wildhorsetrail said:

Blue shop towels are also made of paper, are they less abrasive?

Actual blue shop towels, not just blue paper towels, are a lot softer than typical paper towels.    The fiber mix in the shop towels still has a lot of recycled paper, but the other stuff ("tree fiber"?) and resin make them much softer.    I've not had any trouble using them on plastics (windscreens, windows) or other smooth finishes.   I still usually use microfiber on finished stuff, but if there's a lot of grime or there aren't any clean microfibers around shop towels seem to work fine.

[Brandt]

After an initial cleaning, I put on a ceramic coat.  Then I use this to keep it clean. Always a microfiber cloth.

https://planeperfect.us/products/wwb

 

[Fly Boomer]

20 minutes ago, Brandt said:

After an initial cleaning, I put on a ceramic coat.  Then I use this to keep it clean. Always a microfiber cloth.

https://planeperfect.us/products/wwb

 

This reminded me that my dad used to squirt some liquid TurtleWax in half a bucket of water, and swab the leading edges with an old t-shirt.  But those airplanes weren’t going through the air fast enough to get the bug splat very well adhered.

[Kirch56H]

20 minutes ago, Brandt said:

After an initial cleaning, I put on a ceramic coat.  Then I use this to keep it clean. Always a microfiber cloth.

https://planeperfect.us/products/wwb

 

I am a huge fan of the Plane Perfect products also. I used their Buddha Belly cleaner/degreaser to do my entire plane and then followed up with their Plane Perfect One wash/wax ceramic. The plane is so smooth and the water just beads up and is gone. It’s a great coating and leaves a better finish than a traditional wax. 
 

after a flight I always wipe down the leading edges, windscreen and tail section where bugs build up. I use the PlanePerfect One for this wipe down. The bugs wipe away easily if you take 5-10 min after each flight to do some detail cleaning. 
 

I’d recommend the PlanePerfect line to anyone looking for great cleaner and ceramic protectant at a great price. 

[LANCECASPER]

On 5/19/2023 at 6:37 AM, RoundTwo said:

For years, I’ve been a fan of Mequiar’s Quick Detail spray but I recently tried another product, Lucas Slick Mist Speed Wax, and I like it better. It does a great job, goes on easy, comes off easy and really is a pleasure to use on leading edges covered in bug splat.

What is your favorite wipe down product?

I think I've tried all of the products mentioned here except Lucas Slick Mist.

I've used BAAM for years and it takes bugs off of the leading edges better than anything else I've tried. I use it on cars also.

http://www.nblproducts.com/13.html