wing cleaning

[bignos]

Hmmmm,

its my first winter flying (or attempting to)

my nice new wing is now covered in mud from dragging it across muddy fields trying to take off!

how do i clean it? is it best tio wait until the spiring?\

and.... will it look any cleaner?

[morgy]

its best to use very mild soapy water "just a dropof soap" Dont try and scub it just gently wipe it down. I feed one hand down the inside of the wing to the dirty area and use a cloth in the other to wipe clean. Make sure you dry it fully before putting it away otherwise it will go mouldy and thats a nightmare to get rid of. MY wing still has very small marks on it from sheep sh*t but 95% of the dirt came out

[Guest]

Ground handle it on wet grass.

Works for all those stubborn stains.

I do find that wet grass works every time.... I would not reccomend the use of any soap no matter how mild.

If you HAVE to wipe it off, think (sandpaper) as in... the tiny bits of grit in the mud and your rag = sandpaper.

SW

[pauldeakin]

You should not use a detergent such as washing up liquid, but plain soap (not perfumed) should be OK, I read on one of the cloth manufacturers sites that you should use Olive Oil based soap, but I don't know where you would get that and I have never tried it.

for more information about the materials used and some tips on looking after them, see:

http://www.ojovolador.com/eng/read/repo ... /index.htm

Paul D

[t_andrews]

http://www.blusky.co.za/tips-caring02.html

Friend of mine salted (ocean dip) his wing and had to rinse it to get the crystals out.

He said that alone brought back some of the crispyness and cleaned a lot of the dirt and stains off.

Edited January 12, 2009 by Guest

[thijs]

Hello,

I did a lot of research about cleaning gliders. In Holland we have the same cow and sheep residu problem as in England. We use (Dreft) soap, which you need one drop of it for a complete dishwash. This will clean 95% of all the dirt. The other 5% is mostly oil and sheep/cow residu. This can easily removed with paintbrush cleaner. I don't know the exact product name in England. This is the only oilbased product which doesn't leave marks or attacks the coating of the glider. It also can be used to remove sticky stuff from stickers. This paintbrush cleaning stuff makes the glider also a little bit more shiny. Gasoline,diesel,aceton and other agressive stuff will dissolve the coating in seconds.

I recommend to use a small piece for testing first.

[Guest]

This is a joke right?

SW

[thijs]

No joke, this really works!!!

Everybody has a small piece of (white) glider left. Just put some oil on it and some sheep/cow mud. Let it dry for a couple of days and then try to clean it with water and soap and then try with the paintbrush cleaner.

Don't use terpentine or thinner, just the stuff to clean paintbrushes. You can buy it in every shop for a couple of euro. I shall have a look if i can find something the same for you as what we use here. If nescessary I can make small youtube video to show how it works.

Here is an example (in the Netherlands) : http://www.kwantum.be/1407_Verdunningmi ... ____500_ML