Cleaners / polish

Hi guy's just wondering what cleaning /polish is good for a bike with 3m clear film on it. The film doesn't cover the whole thing just leading edges of fairings and where tank pad and thigh pads goes so it would have to be good for both film and paint. The dealership recommended a small spray can for $45 (that ain't happening ). Any ideas?

 

Does it say what the 3M film is made of? I use an acrylic paint sealant that should work without yellowing. Klasse. http://www.autogeek.net/klasse.html

 

What works great for me is the Honda Cleaner Polish. Keeps the fairings and all nice and shinny looking, only when it starts to look a little more than what a simple spray and wipe, I'll go to Mequiars cleaner polish. Now on the screen I use Plexus. it too works good on the fairings, but since its developed more for clear plastics, I tend to only use it for that and the tail light lens as well as thy visors

 

Pledge furniture polish in place of Plexus on the wind screen. They even smell the same and it is one hell of a lot cheaper. The blue plastic pump spray bottle is what I use. That's for the shine. Have no idea how you would polish that 3M stuff. Why not reach out to #m for their advice on that film>

 

I would agree Randy. But after using Plexus then switching to Pledge, like you say was way cheaper when using this stuff on the helicopter screen, OML, it used a lot of product. that said, I find Pledge and the like polish has more water in it. that and the Plexus comes in a littler size for packing, all FWIW.

 

Waxes including those containing a fraction of carnauba contain aromatic solvents. These can soften the adhesive on the 8mm 3M protective film.

The polymer acrylic "waxes" are essentially waterbourne. The better application is two coats a day or so apart to allow the first coat to cure (polymerize)

The true waxes are not harmful to any automotive paint I am familiar with.

Pledge is furniture polish. It contains silicones. Silocones are contaminents and are the major cause of "fisheye" in paintwork. Once applied they will contaminate an entire spray booth and are nearly impossible to be rid of.

Precut, the 3M film is pricy. In rolls or sheets from a 3M wholesaler the price is reasonable. Application of same unless a complete RTFM is done can be tricky.

 

Thanks guys, looks like polymer acrylic wax looks like the way to go . The $45 spray that the dealership was trying to sell me was recommended by the clear guard installer, l was hoping there was a equivalent household cleaner . Thanks again for the advice

 

Best to separate the cleaning from the polishing (waxing),IMO. There are mild detergents formulated for washing cars and bikes. In the US, Meguirs, Eagle One ect. I would sure take a close look at any pressurized aerosol (rattlecan) cleaning product for it's contents. Probably not harmful to paint as such but the propellents are aromatic solvents too. Sometimes products are being pushed by dealers who have no bloddy idea what they are talking about. It would be interesting to see what the installer has to say about that $45.00 can.

 

3M manufactures more than one type of protective films up to 14 mils. They could be polymers or one of the proprietary films that 3M ain't aboot to share with anybody..

This narrows the search down some. The 3M site just the opposite of great leader's vocabulary.

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADFA_enUS401#q=3m+8+mil+scotchgard&*

 

^ I know your down on pledge, I like it for my swing arm, wheels, chrome exhaust pipes, thats it. I always spray it on a designated rag, thats just me though. Like Protect-All, bought in (shameless plug Wallmart.) Use Meguire products, love the Carbnuba stuff, use it to remove glue residue on lots of chit, even new crystal glasses, (not to be confused with my mother-in-law krystal, who I hate.) Plexus is the cats ass, use it on my lap top, windscreen, sometimes on the bodywork.

I buy the cheaper pledge knock off for what ever its worth. eace:

 

Not so much down on it as I know it as a contaminant due to the silicones. There are remedies for fisheye in paint and some coatings. The problem is that silicone contamination is impossible to spot until it causes fisheye in the paint and has to be sanded out more paint applied and that has to be treated with fisheye remover. There is sufficient silicone in Pledge to contaminate an entire spray booth. Booths differ from reclaiming "booths" for powdercoating to millions dollar rigs that are temp and humidity controlled with manifolds to supply breathing air.

The adhesives from price stickers and labels on squirt bottles are softened by heat. I save the cool squirt bottles for artsy-fartsy paintwork on furniture pieces a la Jackson Pollack, Mondrian and my sis when she was aboot a year old..

Not especially in order for the tougher adhesives including the stock OEM Honda graphics try regular pain thinner, Barbeque starter fluid, lighter fluid, VM&P naptha, rubbing alcohol or for the really tough ones, on glass, acetone, toluol or lacquer thinner.

This does not include Crystal your favorite mominlaw, even though you are stuck with her.

 

Interesting stuff, If I was dealing with removing those wonderful stickers on our gas tanks warning us to wear a helmet or leather up while riding, I would use as you described warm to hot water to soften the sticker and use my finger nail to get an edge and just go at it like that. Ultimately I would go to my favorite wax, (shameless plug here) Meguires Carnuba Wax to remove the rest of the glue residue.

Far as the mother-in-law, she is 3000 miles away thankfully in Deutschland freezing her bony arse off. My wife is not so hot on her either, so at least I don't stand alone. Its too bad really, because she could help us out immensely watching our baby (not the Mach 1 or Mach 2) but you can't change stupid or idiotic oh, I left out evil. No more venting, I got an un-cut rear fender for my Mach 2 - the two bikes look amazing together. eace: OUT

 

Rub on Honda Polish and let dry. Rub it off and that's about as good as it gets. Simple.

 

My favorite safe for everything plastic internal and external sptay the last 5+ years is 303s Aerospace Protectorent, stops cars acrylic headlights yellowing also good for clear helmet visors, screens, car dashes etc.

 

Never saw one of those warning stickers on a tank but what do I know? The logos on tanks are buried under clearcoat. The graphics on the fairings can be eased off with a little warming. Best warmed with a hair dryer rather than a 12-1500 watt heat gun.. another method is peeling back just a small corner at the top of the graphic and applying paint thinner with a small brush to the exposed adhesive. This with factory paint.. tough stuff.

Carnauba is a vegetable or plant wax as opposed to the petroleum based waxes. In raw form its hard as hell. There's some hype that goes with waxes containing carnauba fractions. The ad part of the label will sometimes state "Made with 100% Carnauba wax" or some such.. if the wax was 100% carnauba it would have to be melted on and buffed with a wire cup brush. 100% would also be kind of a puke green color too..

Not to worry aboot your MIL, Germany is on great leader's new list of folks we do not want here. Canada and Texas is next..

 

Awhile back there was a more detailed post that was all about carrot waxing. Was that you?

 

Interesting stuff. I will look for some. One I used for years is a general purpose product developed by Boeing. "Boeshield T-9. Great in marine environments.

 

Found this on the Subaru Forum, unsure if Boeshield T-9 is suitable for plastics though looks good for protecting metal bits ?


" West Marine also sells a product called Boeshield T-9. It is both a penetrating lubricant and protectant (combination of solvents, lubricants and waxes) that was developed by the Boeing Aerospace Corporation (http://www.boeshield.com/t9info.htm)

It should be applied every 3-4 months or earlier depending on exposure/use. Boeshield T-9 is NOT for the interior of a car. This is similar to CRC/WD-40/etc. except that it has a wax in it to effectively seal out the elements. For nuts, bolts, metal, hinges, locks, etc. "

 

Boesheild T-9 was the shizzle, we used to have it by the crate, I used it every day, loved the smell, reminds me of victory or is that Napalm? Our Leader would know all the answers :loco: I am gona try out some of that 303 Aerospace stuff, we have boat stores up the arse here. May just order a 32 oz (not to be confused with people from OZ) on line. Like Protect-All too, thats from Wallymart. I got a bunch of LPS products that we used, some 1, 2 and some penetrating aerosols.

 

The Boeshield is paraffin based. Not sure what you guys from OZ call it. Here its waxm, in UK its kerosene.

Never used it on my cars.. Just my two-bit on this one; the worst stuff for inside a car is ArmourAll.

The use of Boeshield depends on how it's applied. A thin coat can be hand buffed. A heavier coat is great for exposed metal including chains.

For at least some of the ingredients, formulations and components of "things", look up the MSDS. Easy Google.. usually the product followed by MSDS.