Bilge Cleaner

[rnbenton]

My 1987 Voyager 28 needs a really good bilge cleaning. The folks I bought her from look to have never cleaned them and since I've had her I have done some cleaning but they are getting to the point of needing a really good cleaning. Can someone tell me if there is a particular sort/type/name of a solvent most suitable for this purpose? Or, Do I need to have the boat pulled and steam cleaned? All of my previous boats have been outboards so I'm a bit of a neophite in this area.

 

[rduhon]

I used Simple Green concentrate. I bought a gallon at Sam's, it is good stuff.
The fiberglass had nothing left stuck on it after using it.
I tried some kind of bilge cleaner that you just pour in and let slosh around,
but when I cleaned it out, it still looked and smelled the same. However, our
bilge is just fiberglass, no paint or gelcoat.
There is nothing like a good cleaner and a good scrub brush to clean things out.

 

[rnbenton]

Thanks, I'll give the Simple green a try. The "just pour it in and let it slosh around" stuff sounds nice but life has taught me that things are almost never that simple or easy.

Thanks again.

 

[idyltimelg]

While Simple Green is one of my all time favorite cleaners-- effective, biodegradable and smells good, I can recommend StarBrite Power Pine bilge cleaner. I just removed the generator from the 3807 that I bought at the end of last season, and had access to an area of the bilge that hadn't been seen in 21 years. There was probably 1 1/2 inches of old grease, oil, and I don't even want to consider what else, caked up all over the section of bilge covered by the gen. I scraped out much with a putty knife, and didn't have much hope for an easy clean up. A somewhat strong solution of the StarBrite Power Pine and a long handled bathroom brush did the trick in fairly short order.

 

[aquadancer]

Simple Green + toilet brush. The followe with a good rinse and shopvac remaining water. probably wouldn't easily remove 21 years of neglect - but works well for me.