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Our method

Aircraft paint is not automotive paint.

That sentence is the whole difference between a company that details aircraft and a company that details cars and also takes airplanes.

The substrate

Less material, more materials.

An exterior finish on an airframe is a system. Conversion coated or anodized aluminum, or composite, then an epoxy primer, then a polyurethane topcoat. It is engineered thin, because weight is a design constraint and every pound of paint is a pound of payload. Automotive clear coat is thicker and far more forgiving of correction. There is simply less material on an aircraft to work with, and what comes off does not come back without a repaint.

The airframe is also not one material. Within a few feet of each other sit clad aluminum, magnesium components, acrylic windows that craze permanently under the wrong solvent, elastomeric de-ice boots that harden and crack when treated like paint, composite radomes and fairings, and exposed sealant. None of them tolerate the same chemistry. Treating them as though they do is how a five year repaint cycle becomes a three year one.

All of it is also moving. Skin temperature runs from well over 100 degrees on a ramp to well below freezing at altitude, and aluminum, composite, sealant and paint each expand and contract at their own rate through that range, on every flight. Coastal aircraft repaint sooner than inland ones for the same reason they corrode sooner. None of this is caused by cleaning. All of it is made worse by cleaning badly.

The exterior finish system on an airframe A cross section showing four layers: a polyurethane topcoat of 2 to 3 mils or 50 to 75 microns, an epoxy primer beneath it, a conversion coating or anodize layer, and the aluminum or composite substrate. Beside it, a scale comparison showing the topcoat against a human hair of roughly 70 microns, illustrating that the entire decorative layer is about the thickness of one hair. Polyurethane topcoat 2 to 3 mils. 50 to 75 microns. Epoxy primer Conversion coating or anodize Aluminum or composite Expands and contracts through roughly 180 degrees of skin temperature in flight. The finish is a system, not a coat of paint Layers shown exploded for legibility. Not to scale. What that thickness actually is Topcoat, 50 to 75 microns Human hair, about 70 microns Drawn to scale against each other. Correction takes material off the top band.
Everything a polish touches lives in the top band. There is about a hair’s thickness of it, it is engineered thin because every pound of paint is a pound of payload, and it does not come back without a repaint.

TACT

Time, Agitation, Chemical, Temperature.

Every cleaning process on earth is governed by four variables. TACT is the shorthand.

The useful part is that they trade against each other. Reduce one and you have to raise another to get the same result. That is not a preference, it is how cleaning works.

Now apply it to an airframe. You cannot raise agitation, because agitation removes finish you cannot replace. You cannot raise chemical strength, because the chemistry is bounded by the most sensitive material in the area you are working. You cannot raise temperature for the same reason.

That leaves time.

Time is the only variable available on an aircraft, and time is the one an untrained or underpriced crew cuts, because cutting it is invisible on the day. It becomes visible three years later, in the finish, in the boots, in the brightwork, and in the appraisal.

The TACT tradeoff on an aircraft Four columns representing time, agitation, chemical and temperature. Agitation, chemical and temperature each show a ceiling line they cannot be raised past, set by the finish and the substrate. Time has no ceiling. The diagram shows that because three of the four variables are capped on an airframe, time is the only one a crew can increase to get the same result. Four variables. On an airframe, three of them are capped. THE ONLY ONE LEFT T Time
Dwell. Costs labor, damages nothing.
 CAPPED BY THE FINISH A Agitation
Past the cap it removes material that does not come back.
 CAPPED BY THE SUBSTRATE C Chemical
Bounded by the least tolerant material within reach.
 CAPPED BY THE SUBSTRATE T Temperature
Heat accelerates chemistry, and everything chemistry does.
Lower one variable and you have to raise another to get the same result. Three of the four cannot be raised on an aircraft, so the one a professional operation spends is time. It is also the one an underpriced crew cuts, and cutting it is invisible on the day.

Chemistry

pH is not a detail.

The pH scale is logarithmic. Every whole point is a factor of ten, so a cleaner at pH 10 is a thousand times more alkaline than water.

A cabin contains wool, leather, suede, veneer, acrylic and plated brightwork, each with a different tolerance, and they sit within a few feet of each other. Wool in particular has a narrow working range and is unforgiving outside it. One product used across all of them is not efficiency. It is a decision to accept damage on whichever material is least tolerant.

We match the product to the material. That is slower, it requires people who know the difference, and it is the reason the interiors we care for age the way they should.

Products qualified for aviation, not adapted to it

We use cleaners that conform to Boeing BSS7432 and AMS 1526C.

  • Boeing BSS7432 is Boeing’s evaluation procedure for airplane maintenance materials. It is the test regime that establishes a material will not damage the airframe it is used on.
  • AMS 1526 is the SAE Aerospace Material Specification for aircraft exterior surface cleaners of the water-miscible, pressure spraying type.

Two of the products we use, Swype and Dend, come from a product company our ownership founded. We built them because what we needed did not exist at the standard we wanted, and we say so here rather than leaving it to be discovered.

The method is written down

Every service we perform has a standard operating procedure, and every team member works inside the platform that holds it. That is what makes the standard portable. The procedure at Teterboro is the procedure at Scottsdale because it is literally the same document.

See the platform

Credentials

The part nobody asks about until something goes wrong.

NBAA memberNational Business Aviation Association.
SFBAA memberSouth Florida Business Aviation Association.
Background checked team membersEvery person who touches an aircraft.
Drug testing programCompany administered, applied across the organization.
Fully insuredGeneral liability, hangarkeepers and commercial auto. Certificate on request.
Environmental complianceWastewater and environmental regulation observed at every field.
Health benefits for team membersTurnover is the enemy of a standard.
Documented SOPsWritten procedure for every service, at every base.

Common questions

Answers before you ask

Can washing damage aircraft paint?

Yes. The most common causes are excessive agitation, chemistry that is too aggressive for the substrate, and pressure or water directed where it does not belong. All three come from compressing the time available rather than adjusting the method.

What is the difference between a dry wash and a wet wash?

A dry wash uses a chemical and a controlled wipe to lift soil without free water, which is why it is the standard method in hangars and at fields with wash rack restrictions. A wet wash uses water and is appropriate when the soil load, the facility and the aircraft all allow for it. Neither is universally correct.

How often should an aircraft be washed?

It depends on where it is based, what it flies through and what the finish is. Coastal salt air, industrial fallout and de-ice season all shorten the interval. We build a schedule around the aircraft rather than quoting a number.

Are your products FAA approved?

There is no such thing as an FAA approved cleaning product. What exists are OEM and industry material specifications, and the products we use conform to Boeing BSS7432 and AMS 1526C. Any company advertising FAA approved chemicals is describing something that does not exist.

Do you carry insurance?

Yes. General liability, hangarkeepers and commercial auto. A certificate is available on request.

From the Flight Deck

Written on the method

All of the Flight Deck
Standards and Compliance  ·  July 9, 2026

Cleaning frequency and corrosion control, according to the people who wrote it down

FAA AC 43-4B names washing as an element of corrosion control and sets no interval for it. What fills that gap is the Navy,…

 Exterior and Finish  ·  May 21, 2026

Is ceramic coating worth it on an aircraft

Sometimes. The honest version separates what a coating is qualified for from what it is sold for, and there is a real difference between…

 Interior and Cabin  ·  February 5, 2026

One product across a cabin is a decision, not an efficiency

Leather wants a cleaner at pH 4 to 6. Wool is damaged above 9.5. Acrylic crazes on alcohol under stress. Polycarbonate fails on alkalinity.…

Get in touch

Tell us what you need and when.

Tail number, airport, dates. We will come back with a plan and a price, not a brochure.

Request Service

(833) 432-2378 info@allengroupe.com 1515 Perimeter Road
West Palm Beach, FL 33406