Cleaning aluminum

[GREGFEELER]

Greg: I was unaware that Simple Green created a new product since the 90’s.

Lee: we were using “original” simple green... that was the culprit.

The Simple Green home page lists many, many products. Unfortunately, they don't list the introduction dates, but I would believe it reasonable that many of them were introduced withing the last 20 years. https://simplegreen.com/products/

A company pretty much has to add new products to remain competitive. Look at all the things WE40 offers. There are three pages at this site: https://www.wd40.com/products/

I used their Purple cleaner to de-grease the rear chain on a Triumph I bought used about five years ago. The bike was 15 years old and from all appearances the chain had been regularly lubed but never cleaned. It was so stiff with old lube that there was a *lot* of resistance to just turning the rear wheel. I used the Purple cleaner (Pro HD) with a chain brush and a lot of work but got it looking and working like new. https://simplegreen.com/products/pro...ner-degreaser/

[bigjohnsd]

[Simple Green Aircraft Cleaner]

[jkjohnson]

Those parts are corroded, not "dirty." You can buff them out (take material off the surface, make it look shiny) but it will require ongoing rubbing to stay bright. This is because structural aluminum often has a thin outer layer more resistant to corrosion than the material under the surface, and once you rub that outer layer off it will be less resistant to corrosion than when new. I am uninformed on what processes BMW uses to increase the corrosion resistance of their aluminum parts, but you can look at "Alclad" and "Annodizing" on Wikipedia to get an idea of how atmospheric corrosion issues are sometimes dealt with industrially with surface treatments.

I have an airplane that came to me with a polished aluminum prop, but required so much rubbing to keep it bright that over time the thickness of the prop was reduced to the point where the prop eventually nearly would not pass inspection. I ended up having it painted.

[DaveSlash5]

If nothing else works, then just lable it "patina"!

[bigjohnsd]

Has anyone used this product?

https://www.por15.com/por-15-cleaner-degreaser

POR-15 Cleaner Degreaser (formerly marine-clean) cleans and degreases in one application without leaving residues, noxious fumes or flammable solvents. No other cleaner works as fast or as well. It makes petroleum-based cleaners almost obsolete because POR-15 Cleaner Degreaser can be diluted with water up to 4 to 10 times its volume while remaining more potent than other cleaners. POR-15 Cleaner Degreaser removes grease, oil, mildew, algae, musty odors, soap films, wax. Use it to clean canvas, vinyl, nylon, holding tanks, grease traps, auto parts and more.

Adhesion is important with most paints but has to be perfect for POR-15 Rust Preventive Coating to achieve its maximum effectiveness. A solvent wipe before painting didn't work with POR-15 Rust Preventive Coating; in the lab we found it did more harm than good by leaving a residue that didn't help with adhesion or appearance. We had to come up with a substance that would clean metal without leaving a residue. What we developed, POR-15 Cleaner Degreaser, contradicts all accepted theories about metal prep products: its water-based, not solvent-based and it cleans without leaving residues. In laboratory adhesion tests, our POR-15 Rust Preventive Coating using POR-15 Cleaner Degreaser first to clean the bare metal far exceeded every other prep product we found in the marketplace.

[bikebombs]

Has anyone had any luck cleaning the mottling off old aluminum parts? I have tried soda blasting, aluminum jelly and polishing compounds with little luck. Parts look cleaner but still have a mottled rather than bright shiny finish which they had when new. I'd like to get as close to that as possible. Attachment 81818

I stopped using Simple Green 30 yrs. ago. It is very corrosive for all metals. The Air Force stopped using it about 15 yrs. ago for the same reason. They had to start replacing panels on aircraft because they were so thin from the affects of this product.

[jaachap]

You are correct, regular simple green is very corrosive to aircraft metals and not good for poly paint either. It was great for cleaning black exhaust stains but was banned on aircraft use while I was serving. I can attest to this because I was a Coast Guard aviator (helos) for 25 years.
I would think the newer version for aircraft applications would be safe for aircraft and environment friendly.

[GREGFEELER]

I stopped using Simple Green 30 yrs. ago. It is very corrosive for all metals. The Air Force stopped using it about 15 yrs. ago for the same reason. They had to start replacing panels on aircraft because they were so thin from the affects of this product.

Please look as my previous post about this. Simple Green has a product specifically designed for cleaning aircraft that appears to have been introduced to address the problems you mentioned.

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread...=1#post1234487

[langoptc]

If nothing else works, then just lable it "patina"!

Is that you, Wayne Carini?

[DaveSlash5]

Just noticed your post.

Nope, not Wayne. Just Dave. Not Chasing Classic Cars, just scrubbing on my /5.

[rangerreece]

Just noticed your post.

Nope, not Wayne. Just Dave. Not Chasing Classic Cars, just scrubbing on my /5.

The Actual Wayne Carini will be in Saint Augustine, Florida on April 24th as the Grand Marshal for Riding Into History. The event is organized by BMW MOA member, Bill Peterson, Ted and I will be there occupying vendor space signing up MOA members. If you’re in the area, (or even if your not) come on by and say hi.