[VAC] Simple Green warning

[Cynthia Grant <Cynthia.Grant@xxxxxxx>]

This came out this week from aviation sources; I would guess that it would
equally apply to Airstream aluminum.  The following paragraph is from 
Avweb (http:www.avweb.com - requires free registration to access the news
updates).

Cynthia



It's Simple -- Don't Use This To Clean Aircraft
A well-known aviation magazine this month published a feature article on 
cleaning one's aircraft and getting it ready for spring flying. Only one 
problem -- a product the article recommended as safe for aviation use has
been proven corrosive to aluminum. The product is Simple Green, a popular 
household cleaning liquid. According to the magazine's May issue -- which 
included a photo of Simple Green and other products -- the liquid "does an 
admirable job for a fraction of the cost of the aviation cleaners." While
that may be true as far as it goes, both the U.S. Air Force and the U.S.
Army have conducted tests of Simple Green and strongly urge that it not be
used to clean aluminum structures. In one test conducted by the U.S. Air 
Force, results from which were published in 1989, aluminum alloy samples
were immersed in Simple Green for a week then removed, cleaned and weighed.
The results indicated that the approximately 3.5-gram aluminum alloy samples
experienced a material loss of about 31 milligrams in a diluted solution and
a whopping 295 milligram loss after spending a week in the undiluted liquid.
The Air Force report summed it up this way: "We do not recommend the use of
this product on Air Force equipment containing aluminum." Good advice, that.