Exterior Aircraft Cleaning Products And Procedure

Posted by Kevin Clark on January 9th, 2018

Cleaning an airplane exterior is not same as normal routine washing process that one may indulge in their homes or their any space for that matter. It not only requires great precision but also demands big space or area to carry out the cleaning function. There is no denying of the fact that exterior aircraft cleaning process requires proper training and quality cleaning products.

Cleaning an aircraft is indeed a task. This is because the kind of dust and dirt it is exposed to is extremely difficult to remove. Following are the circumstances under which it may attract dirt and may get untidy:

•  Harsh climatic and weather conditions like rain
•  Bird droppings and dung
•  Oil seepage and leaking from large hydro mechanical system
•  At the time of landing when the engines is churned un reverse direction and during this process the dust and soil particles begin to stick on the edges and the exterior parts of the plane.
•  Bugs may contribute to the aircraft’s filthiness as well

Cleaning products at disposal

Since aircraft is exposed to extensive dirt and dust, hence the kind of cleaning products required must be such to meet every cleaning requisite for every nook and corner. They are mainly classified as follows:

ü Dry and wet wash: This category has products, which includes liquid solution required to perform the cleaning task. Aero cosmetic, wash wax, aero wash, CitriCut concentrate solution, CitriCut gel are just to name a few which could be used to effectively clean the aircraft exterior.

ü Equipment: It is obvious that no ordinary cloth, sponge or wiper could do justice to the cleaning of the aircraft. Since this cleaning job is critical, the equipment needed must be equally efficient. AMS 3819 sponge is one such supporting tool that falls in such category of competent and powerful equipment.

ü Polishing process: This stage comes when the aircraft is properly cleaned. When dirt is allowed to sit on the exterior, it not makes it dirty but also hamper its shine and polish as well. Thus, after cleaning, it require proper polishing to cover up the areas which got chipped or suffered marks. Furthermore, there is another step that come between the cleaning and polishing and that is repairing. If the repair it demands is mild it can be fixed with PG777 masking tape and after that it may be polished with Nuglaze, Nupower and degreaser.

Lastly, indeed the aircraft cleaning process is one critical job and hence requires great precision and accuracy. There are certain level of caution a professional must pay attention to like never spray directly on windows or use sharp tool as it may only contribute to the damage instead of fixing it.