Crud removal

[Eric Brown]

Does anyone know of a good water soluble chemical that will remove years of dirt and oil from the interior of wings and fuselage ?

[geosnooker2000]

Does anyone know of a good water soluble chemical that will remove years of dirt and oil from the interior of wings and fuselage ?

Check out Simple Green. I'm not saying that's the answer, but it's worth a look.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Green

[Marc Zeitlin]

Check out Simple Green. I'm not saying that's the answer, but it's worth a look.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_GreenDo NOT use standard Simple Green on aluminum aircraft or aluminum aircraft parts. SG makes "Aircraft Simple Green" which IS safe for aluminum (and composites).

[martymayes]

Does anyone know of a good water soluble chemical that will remove years of dirt and oil from the interior of wings and fuselage ?

It depends on what kind of structure, what kind of crud and what degree of disassembly you're willing to undertake to remove the crud.

[Eric Brown]

I did try some paint stripper on few test spots. It does work. My concern is that the stripper will get into the lap seams and may not completely wash out. Whadda ya guys think ??

[Bill Berson]

Phosphoric acid (first step in etch and alodine) will clean up oil film and corrosion and is water flushable.
Ospho is mostly phosphoric acid. I using it for cleaning rust off the bathtub.

[DaleB]

I would second the recommendation in the other iteration of this discussion for Dawn, or some cheap shampoo - both with a soft bristle brush for washing cars. Both will cut oil, grease and grime gently. Rinse thoroughly, of course, otherwise you'll end up with a sticky film that will attract more dirt.

[martymayes]

.My concern is that the stripper will get into the lap seams and may not completely wash out.

yes, that happens. Pressure washing helps.

[Eric Brown]

OK guys, here's what I wound up doing. Mineral spirits. I know, not water soluble. The project was C150 wings that had been treated several times with a corrosion preventative over many years. A lot of caked on dirt had collected, particularly aft of the rear spar. Some places I could reach in scrape the crud off and the vacuum out the clumps. Wings were NOT on the airplane. Dish soap, engine cleaner, WD-40,ect. did not perform well enough. I sprayed in mineral spirits and let soak for 1 hr. I then used a pressure washer with a 90* nozzle to blast out the crud. Not squeaky clean, but enough to evaluate the wing internal condition. Oh ya, mineral spirits does kill your back yard grass.

[robert l]

OK guys, here's what I wound up doing. Mineral spirits. I know, not water soluble. The project was C150 wings that had been treated several times with a corrosion preventative over many years. A lot of caked on dirt had collected, particularly aft of the rear spar. Some places I could reach in scrape the crud off and the vacuum out the clumps. Wings were NOT on the airplane. Dish soap, engine cleaner, WD-40,ect. did not perform well enough. I sprayed in mineral spirits and let soak for 1 hr. I then used a pressure washer with a 90* nozzle to blast out the crud. Not squeaky clean, but enough to evaluate the wing internal condition. Oh ya, mineral spirits does kill your back yard grass.

Did you take pictures or video ?

[Dana]

When I had my annual done this spring, the IA drained avgas from the sink into a pump spray bottle and used that to clean the engine and firewall. Made me nervous, but all the grease and grime just ran off, no brushing required.

When he took a smoke break, he did it far from the hangar...

[Eric Brown]

Did you take pictures or video ?

Got lots of photos.