airplane wash/wax?

airguy

airguy

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Best of intentions, and all that noise....

My 172 is horribly dirty and my schedule is packed and does not show any signs of lightening up. Local FBO quoted me $300 for a wash and wax - that seems awfully steep to me. Any other suggestions? I'm based just east of Midland, TX.
 
airguy said:
Best of intentions, and all that noise....

My 172 is horribly dirty and my schedule is packed and does not show any signs of lightening up. Local FBO quoted me $300 for a wash and wax - that seems awfully steep to me. Any other suggestions? I'm based just east of Midland, TX.
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Wash and wax. Assuming interior as well, sounds about right. I pay about $85 just for a wash and $300 wash, wax, and interior clean.

If they get the belly really clean, it's worth having someone else do it.
 
Alexb2000 said:
Wash and wax. Assuming interior as well, sounds about right. I pay about $85 just for a wash and $300 wash, wax, and interior clean.

If they get the belly really clean, it's worth having someone else do it.
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Agreed....

When I bought my first plane, N4341X.... I went to the airport and spent all day applying wax to the WHOLE plane... I hand rubbed it in REAL good too.. Then I realized I had to buff it all off..:eek::hairraise::yikes:...... ..

That was the last time I waxed a plane...:yes:.. Do you have any idea how much surface area is on a plane???:dunno::rolleyes:
 
A couple of years ago the local chapter of the 99's had a bikini wash for airplanes at the Spicewood airport. A bargain at $99!

It takes 2 people about 2 hours to do a good wash job on our Cardinal, including a belly scrub, plus however much you want to pay for belly soap*. At KAUS you have to pay $50 for the earth friendly wash rack.

So at retail labor rates $300 is high, but not astronomical.

*Regular Simple Green is bad for airplanes, but Boeing approved Simple Green is the cat's meow. It's just too bad that after shipping it costs about $40/gallon. :(
 
As a kid I would wash/wax planes in exchange for rides or some instruction. Chances are that you probably have some ramp-rats who would be willing to do something similar. Check with your local CAP group. I have little doubt some aviation oriented high school kids would be very happy to do that job for half the cost.
 
*sigh* Guess I'll just have to pony up then - I know I'm certainly not about to spend a full day doing it myself in winter weather...:no:

N801BH said:
Is "belly soap" even legal to buy in Texas??:dunno:... Or do you need travel to Nevada for it . :wink2::D
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We use the "barter system" out here for stuff like that! :D
 
N801BH said:
Agreed....

When I bought my first plane, N4341X.... I went to the airport and spent all day applying wax to the WHOLE plane... I hand rubbed it in REAL good too.. Then I realized I had to buff it all off..:eek::hairraise::yikes:...... ..

That was the last time I waxed a plane...:yes:.. Do you have any idea how much surface area is on a plane???:dunno::rolleyes:
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Sure do; but it was very comfortable(??) doing it last winter when I was in the huge Hangar #6(former NAS Brunswick), it being heated; long hoses coiled on the wall, drains in the floor. When it was 14°-20° outside it was almost fun, in shirt sleeves, to do the dirty work on the plane. There was plenty of room for the 14 of us. It also helped that I had "time on my hands. (The deal wasn't available this winter)

HR
 

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HR
 
Well I guess that if you are not willing to do it yourself and you really want it washed then, price is what it is!
 
I'd do it for a couple hours flight time. However I am a bit away from you.
 
flyingmoose said:
Well I guess that if you are not willing to do it yourself
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I think the OP is willing, but "my schedule is packed and does not show any signs of lightening up." In that case, it's just a question of what the OP's time is worth. A full wash and wax is at least half a day's work, plus materials. Exterior wash/wax detailing around here is $60-100 for a car, and an airplane has at least three times the surface area, so $300 sounds pricey but not unreasonable to me for a top quality wash/wax job, especially if the plane is "horribly dirty."
 
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No one washes and waxes my airplane but me. There's just too much stuff that can be screwed up by a minimum wage 16 year-old they just hired off the street.

But, if someone ever did wash and/or wax my plane they'd first be required to tell/show me exactly what process and cleaners they used.

When I was based in Harrison, AR, I walked up to the FBO one day as they were washing a client's plane. The high school moron excitedly showed me this great new cleaner he found for airplanes. Castrol Super Clean (Purple Power)...a cleaner that'll eat a hole through aluminum skin in a week.

Not good.

Plus washing and waxing a plane gives one a chance to get intimately familiar with all the warts and keep track of them and the overall condition.
 
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timwinters said:
Castrol Super Clean (Purple Power)...a cleaner that'll eat a hole through aluminum skin in a week.
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Its not that bad (esp if its painted) but I did ruin the finish on a set of aluminum motorcycle fork tubes with that stuff. Good excuse to tear the forks apart and have them re-anodized by a local electroplating shop (which is a really cool operation to watch, if you ever get the chance)
 
dell30rb said:
Its not that bad
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Oooookay!

So, what happens when it gets into the seams in your skin and stays there. Cleaners can penetrate seams that water can't (because of surface tension) and thus you can't flush it out.

I've soaked a piece of skin in purple cleaner for a week and the cleaner literally ate a hole in it.
 
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timwinters said:
No one washes and waxes my airplane but me. There's just too much stuff that can be screwed up by a minimum wage 16 year-old they just hired off the street.
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Try being more condescending. As a minimum wage 17 year old with his PPL I worked for an A&P shop for a bit to learn about the planes and I washed and waxed plenty of planes as part of the full-service annual. Im certain I did not screw up anything, from po-dunk 152's to Multi-million dollar research kingairs that are much more complex than the planes you fly.

timwinters said:
Plus washing and waxing a plane gives one a chance to get intimately familiar with all the warts and keep track of them and the overall condition.
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I fully agree with that. It's a great sign of loving your airplane as well.
 
Mtns2Skies said:
Try being more condescending.
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Not trying to be condescending, rather just relaying what I've actually seen happen out there...static ports waxed shut, plexiglas scratched or marred, the purple cleaner, etc.

I'm sure there are many out there who are/were like you...conscientious young men. But it's a crap shoot and possibly a very expensive or dangerous one.

That's why I also said:

But, if someone ever did wash and/or wax my plane they'd first be required to tell/show me exactly what process and cleaners they used.
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...... Plus washing and waxing a plane gives one a chance to get intimately familiar with all the warts and keep track of them and the overall condition.[/QUOTE said:
At every annual /conditional inspection I do exactly what Tim does.. That way I can inspect all the rivets, lap joints and any other issue that might lead me to checking further.... And... the word intimately is used in its proper context here too..:yes:
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Gimme a break Tom. They are two totally different and unrelated products. Castrol Super Clean is an amazingly caustic cleaner, it's primary active ingredient is lye and it has a PH of 13. It is basically oven cleaner with purple dye. To suggest that it is remotely appropriate for cleaning aluminum aircraft is incomprehensible. In contrast, the active ingredient of ekoclean is Sodium Metasilicate, which if correctly buffered inhibits the corrosion of aluminum. The only thing they have in common is they are both purple. Ref Handbook of Corrosion Data, David Anderson, 1985.
 
We must be lucky as there are about 3 people competing to clean planes. They usually charge about $85 including a nice cleaning out of the carpet and stain remover. Clean the outside and wax it.
 
If you fly over to KADS, let me know. Cost is about half of your quote.

Oops, never mind. I missed the wax part. Tell them to do it ASAP before they raise the price.
 
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