Motorcycle Wax – Polish – Cleaners

We liked the Sprayway Glass Cleaner so much that we couldn’t resist when Sprayway offered to provide some of their other products to try.

Industrial customers are the main target for Sprayway products.

But many of their large selection of spray cleaners, polishes and protectants are also  appropriate for use on motorcycles.

Motorcycles need cleaners and/or polishes that work on many different types of surfaces, including bare metal, painted metal, chrome and stainless steel, plastic (windscreens and face shields), and vinyl (black plastic, saddlebags, etc.).

We finally settled on a eclectic selection of Sprayway products, including the #990 Vinyl & Leather Cleaner, #995 Vinyl Protectant and the #703 Wax & Shine (all from Sprayway’s line of auto care products); also a can of Sprayway #841 Stainless Steel Polish & Cleaner and their #848 Industrial Plastic Cleaner.  It’s hard to choose just a few from the many items listed in the Sprayway catalog, but this group seemed to be most appropriate for use on motorcycles.

Sprayway’s products are used in just about every industry you can think of.  I had no idea that there were so many highly focused spray products targeted at very specific industrial needs.

For example, Sprayway makes several different types of cleaners for use in the printing industry, mostly designed to clean up ink and lubricate moving parts on printing machines.  They also manufacture various USDA-approved sprays that are labeled for use on food processing equipment.

This all started when I purchased a can of Sprayway Glass Cleaner on a lark not too long ago at my local auto parts store (see the wBW review).  It works great on helmets and face shields, but it was originally designed for use on glass, rather than plastic.

Since motorcyclists always seem to be cleaning some type of plastic or other, the Sprayway #848 Industrial Plastic Cleaner sounded like it would be an interesting product to try first.

I always like to see the words “Industrial” on a cleaning product.  I guess I’m naive, but I’m always thinking that the cleaning solutions offered to us plebeians in the local hardware store are actually a watered-down mass-market consumer version of the “real stuff” that’s only available wholesale to industrial “professionals!

Sprayway #848 Industrial Plastic Cleaner

This product proves my case — this stuff is the real deal!  I hadn’t cleaned the windscreen on my BMW “S” type fairing in several weeks, so it had a nice selection of insect life and road grime splattered all over the surface.

I laid down a swath of the Industrial Plastic Cleaner on one side of the windscreen, honestly not really expecting much better results than I could get with an average generic plastic cleaner.

But I have to say that I was amazed at how quickly and easily the bugs and grime disappeared.

I didn’t believe it at first, this stuff seemed to dislodge bugs and grime quicker and better than anything I’ve tried.   It’s always hard to show the results of cleaners and polishes, but check out this photo.  The white line is a thin bead of leftover spray.

You can see the grime and bug residue on the right-hand side of the windscreen.  The left-hand side is perfectly clean and shiny after only one or two swipes with a clean cloth.

The Sprayway Industrial Plastic Cleaner is listed as anti-static, anti-fog (I’m going to try it on the inside of my face shield), doesn’t streak and cleans up and dries fast.  It feels like it leaves a bit of a polish on the plastic, which makes it easier to clean the surface the next time around.

It works on acrylics, Plexiglas, Lexan, polycarbonates and glass, so this covers about every type of plastic you’ll find on a motorcycle.

But it doesn’t seem to be fussy about the type of surface that it will clean; here are three photos of a section of rear-view mirror showing before, during and after.

The bugs lifted right off with minimal pressure and much easier and quicker than the “Glass Plus” product that I normally use to perform this job.  The Sprayway Industrial Plastic Cleaner gets a full thumbs-up.

Sprayway #703 Wax & Shine

This product is part of the Sprayway Auto Care series.  Although I’ve tried many different types of waxes and polishes, and there are a small handful that work great and offer long-term protection, I’m also a big proponent of “quicker is better”.

Sprayway Wax & Shine is definitely quick and easy to apply, which is a plus in my book.  It has an interesting type of very wide and fine spray pattern that comes out of the can with a “whoosh” sound, and it quickly coats the painted surfaces with a very fine mist.  The directions call for leaving it set for about 5 to 15 minutes, as it dries to a dull white/gray haze.

It wipes off easily and leaves no white residue that I could notice.  It quickly buffs to a very nice shine that seems to offer higher reflectivity than some other auto or motorcycle polishes I’ve used.  So I give Sprayway #703 Wax & Shine a thumbs up for definite ease of use and a nice shine.  Wax & Shine also contains Carnauba wax and DuPont Zonyl.

Sprayway #990 Vinyl Cleaner and Sprayway #995 Vinyl Protectant

Sprayway also sent us some of their #990 Vinyl Cleaner and the #995 Vinyl Protectant.  Many motorcycles have a selection of black vinyl parts, such as fenders, engine covers and saddlebags.  These black parts need a frequent treating with some type of protection to keep them from oxidizing and getting that whitish-gray color.

The Sprayway Vinyl Cleaner worked well in removing the dirt and the black residue that seems to build up on these type of parts.  The – Vinyl Protectant was also easy to use — spray it on, wipe it off, nice and quick.  Some of the other vinyl protectants I’ve used, such as Armor All, are a bit messier to apply.

The Sprayway product meets the quickness test.  It’s a bit hard to tell in these photos, because the bag was relatively clean to begin with, but here’s a shot of the results comparing the before and after using both the cleaner and then the protectant.

Sprayway #841 Stainless Steel Polish & Cleaner

The Sprayway Stainless Steel Polish & Cleaner was designed for use primarily on stainless steel, but can also be used on chrome.  I tried it on metal wheels also, and it worked well to remove the surface grime, leaving the harder to remove bug and tar residue for the polishes with some “grit”.

The Stainless Steel Polish & Cleaner is a clear spray that is again easy to use by simply spraying on and wiping off.  It works fairly well for quick touch-ups on stainless or chrome mufflers and other bare steel parts.

Here’s a before/after photo of a chrome plated muffler.  Again, it’s hard to tell in the photo, but you can see the difference in reflectivity on the lower side of the muffler, where the “after” shot is brighter than the “before”.

Try some basic web searches or inquiries to your local hardware store, who should be able to order the products from Sprayway’s network of local sales representatives. Or visit the Sprayway website to learn more about their wide variety of products.

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