Cleaning and waxing

[UngaWunga]

I'm currently priming and painting some areas on my 172 that needed to be touched up. Got me thinking that it really needs a good cleaning and waxing.

Good/bad to use regular car wax and a power buffer?

 

[JHW]

depends on your paint condition, just like a car. Whatever you decide to use, might want to hold off on doing the newly painted areas for awhile

 

[flyingron]

I switched to Collinite at Henning's recommendation several years ago. No need to buff, it works fine by hand. I just use some McGuiars auto wash for the wash.

Back with the old oxidizing paint I'd use regular car compound on it.

 

[frfly172]

I like to use a marine cleaner wax. I always buff by hand,waxing the plane is a labor of love.

 

[Stewartb]

I use Hotsy brand Carbon-Ate with Wax. It's a one-step wash and wax like the automatic car washes use. The only thing I might manually wax and buff is the top engine cowling. Buffing rivet heads and corrugated skins and sheet metal seams isn't fun.

 

[rwellner98]

I'm currently priming and painting some areas on my 172 that needed to be touched up. Got me thinking that it really needs a good cleaning and waxing.

Good/bad to use regular car wax and a power buffer?

There are good car "waxes" and bad ones. Basically anything with carnauba is a waste of time. The stuff melts at a low temperature and only lasts a few weeks.

The state of the art now are nano-spec sealants. We make one that's safe for aviation use. Should last you about a year, particularly if you use our leading edge treatment to get the bugs off (it has a small dose of the same sealant to replenish what you mechanically rub off when cleaning the leading edges).

We definitely recommend using a buffer.

Our sealant: http://planeperfect.us/collections/all/products/spb
Leading edge treatment: http://planeperfect.us/collections/all/products/wwb

Here's the whole process on a really cool old bird.

 

[Chip Sylverne]

I like Nu Finish. Silicone based sealant, wipes on, no buff, lasts a long time and bugs wipe off the leading edges pretty easily. Wouldn't use it on a show car, but on the airplane it seems to work great.

 

[UngaWunga]

Thanks for the tips...

As far as painting goes, I'm extremely happy with the results so far. Just touching up places where the paint flaked off or had nicks in it. I headed over to my local Robbins auto parts store, they have a paint dept and a good paint guy. I brought them a inspection panel cover, and he used his scanner thing to make up a batch of single stage paint. That, plus some 180 and 220 grit sandpaper and a prevale sprayer, I have worked miracles.

Or, at least, cleaned up the struts and landing gear of my 172. Wings are next. You can't see the difference in broad daylight unless you're 1' away, looking for it. And you can only see it because the original paint is perfectly smooth and my spraying is a little bumpy. I could wetsand it with 600, but I think some buffing will work for me.

 

[kyleb]

I switched to Collinite at Henning's recommendation several years ago. No need to buff, it works fine by hand.

Same here. The stuff works very well, although it has you have to warm it to 80 F or so before it liquefies for application. It goes on easy, buffs easy, and it doesn't take much.

Lasts a long time too.