The International Cessna^® 170 Association

Can the new pledge with orange oil be used on airplane windshields?

Tom Arsenault

Try calling the number on the back of the bottle. SCJohnson has been very helpful with information. The old Pledge in the bottle was great for restoring oxidized paint as well as cleaning windshields. I haven't seen the old Pledge on the store shelf lately. Luckly I have a few bottles to go.

Why not use what all of the windshield manufactures recommend. It will only cost a few pennies more to use a good quality commercial plastic cleaner like Maguire's or Plexus formulated specifically for plastics. I know people that use Pledge, and I have used it myself in the past, but who knows when they might change the Pledge formula for whatever reasons(as it seems they have). I don't want my windshield to be Johnson & Johnson's Guinna pig.
jc

It's not the price. I like Maguires, but feel it breaks down over time and the bottom of the jar is not as good as when new. I've been using Johnsons for 12 years and the windshield has no cracks, haze, and repells dust. The thought about them changing formula is a good one though. I have called them in the past and their engineering dept said the regular pledge would not hurt the plastic windshield. I'll check on this new formula.

Lately (as in the last two years) I've been using Plexus on my aircraft windows and on my eyeglasses.

It is FAR better than Pledge in my opinion.

Pledge leaves quite a waxy buildup over time. Plexus really does clean and leave a very fine finish, with little buildup.

It really is a superior product, and much better than either Pledge or Maguire's.

Mike Vivion

Pledge leaves quite a waxy buildup over time.

Not nearly the wax buildup as Maguires. I was told once that Pledge actually fills the very minute swirls in time and that's why it makes the windshield better looking.

I bought some yellow miracle fiber towels at Costco. Amazing how well they work to take off the Pledge. This took all the work out of it.

Never used Plexus and don't know where to buy it.

Anxiously waiting what you find out djbaker.

I talked to Johnson Inc. about Pledge. They do not recomend Pledge with Orange oil for Lexan windows. They also never recomended Lemon Pledge for airplane windows. They stopped making Lemon Pledge about a year ago.

Guess we will have to find a replacement

taa

That doesn't mean that a simple flavor change will change Pledge's behavior. I wonder Tom, if you could call the person back and ask specifically, is the orange-oil vs the lemon-oil the ONLY change (other than dye) made in the product, AND is it a similar product.
Turtle wax car wash is another product Johnson/Johnson makes and as an example, I'll bet they never recommended/don't recommend it for aircraft either. (Car crashes rarely end up in court sueing the car-wash product maker.)

Tom, The people I spoke to about Lemon Pledge said they could not recommend it for anything other than wood products. That was Company policy. But they also explained that the ingredients in Pledge could not harm the windshield, and that some of the ingredients were the same as those used to produce the plastic in the windshield and that, although not "recommending" it, I might find it would help maintain the windshield. I have no information on the Orange stuff.

I've used lemon pledge for years on my airplane windshields & it's worked great. I like it better than the other stuff I've tried--Plexus & Prist.
The last couple times I bought Pledge, I got a good-sized plastic spray bottle (not aerosol can). It was quite a bit cheaper ounce-for-ounce, but it doesn't seem like it works quite as well as the aerosol can stuff. ???

Eric

Well you may not find it anymore. When I talked to the manufacture rep. she said they stopped make Lemon Pledge over a year ago.

Any ideas for a new cleaner?

taa

FWIW, I use KIT Carwax...in a bottle...was recommended to me years ago by an A&P buddy...works good.

We're all so funny. We do anything we can to "beat the system". If it's designed for aircraft, it's usually expensive and so we all try to find something else, especially if it's non-aviation, and adapt it, and then we all feel so good about it we promote it to all our friends.

I don't know that Pledge or any other product is really any cost savings over specifically designed plexiglas cleaners that are known to be approved for aircraft windshields/windows.

Examples which are all easily found at/near airports and aviation supply houses:

1. Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Aircraft Plastic Polish #10 meets mil-specs and is approved, and is anti-static and great stuff for less than $7/bottle. (Their #10 is for regular cleaning use. Their #17 is for removing light scratches, and #18 is for removing surface residue and is also OK for regular use, and is the least expensive, less than $6. Meguiar's has a long line of aircraft cleaning/care products. See the Spruce catalog. http://www.aircraftspruce.com/ )

2. Plexus aerosol is about $7/can.

3. Permatex Plastic Cleaner (one of my favorites) is less than $6.

4. AeroShell Flight Jacket is about $10. (Frequently found as free samples at FBO's.)

5. Novus #1 is only $4.

Last, and not least is Cessna's care instructions in the Owner's Manual. "Remove oil and grease by rubbing lightly with a cloth wet with Kerosene (jet fuel without additives).....the plexiglas should be waxed with a good grade of commercial wax....with a clean, dry, soft flannel cloth."

Never use Windex, (ANYTHING WITH AMMONIA), Alcohol, Acetone, de-icing fluid, lacquer thinner or glass window cleaning sprays. They will craze, soften, ruin your plexiglas.

Been using Novus for several years, really, really like it. Still get comments about how nice the windshield is and the commute to work has it parked outside in the Texas sun and weather several times a week all day long. The question is asked fairly often if it is a new windshield, it was in the plane when I bought it in '98. Novus offers varying strengths to remove from small to deep scracthes. I buy a spray bottle size along with the larger refill and it lasts well over a year, if not multiple years so it's very cheap to use. Used Pledge on the C150 and was happy with it. But once I tried Novus, I have never been tempted to switch back.

Would be very careful about using Permatex on the windshield, something has to be slowing that B in Austin down. Maybe it's sticking to the air molecules hitting the windshield.

George,

Thanks for a comprehensive and accurate (in my experience) review of the various windshield products.

I've used Novus and Plexus for the last several years. I quit using Pledge because of the buildup it leaves. It takes a lot of cleaning (which can lead to scratching) to get the stuff off the windshield. I used Novus for a while, till the local Novus distributer got too wierd for me to enter their premises, at which point my local maintenance/parts outfit recommended Plexus. Now I use the stuff on windows on the planes, and my eyeglasses.

It is magic, as is the Novus product. As you say, it's all pretty weird, trying to save a buck on a four dollar product that will serve for well over six months.

But, that's aviators for ya.

Mike