Cleaning up diesel spills

[Scotty_Tradewind]

Now that I've just done a lot of repiping and cleaning out of the diesel tank, I've got quite a few drips and small spills down inside the boat which leads to the bilge under the engine sump.

I want to clean thoroughly and then paint some of these areas.

What do I use to get all the diesel off ready to prepare for painting?

In the past i've used Bilgex using scrubbing brushes rinsing several times for general cleaning, with what seems to be great success.

But, is this good enough afterwards to then rub down before putting on locker or bilge paint?
Should I go over it with the paints thinners, acetone or some form of spirit cleaner to make sure?

 

[Poignard]

Now that I've just done a lot of repiping and cleaning out of the diesel tank, I've got quite a few drips and small spills down inside the boat which leads to the bilge under the engine sump.

I want to clean thoroughly and then paint some of these areas.

What do I use to get all the diesel off ready to prepare for painting?

In the past i've used Bilgex using scrubbing brushes rinsing several times for general cleaning, with what seems to be great success.

But, is this good enough afterwards to then rub down before putting on locker or bilge paint?
Should I go over it with the paints thinners, acetone or some form of spirit cleaner to make sure?

Sugar soap and hot water. Cheap as chips. Works a treat and won't mess up your lungs

 

[JohnTH]

Hot water and soap works for me. An aqua vac is good to remove the watery oil afterwards. An odd thing though, having used low or no suds detergent with good effect, we ran out once and used washing up liquid. The bubbles seemed to deal with the oil film on the surface water far more effectively.

73s de

Johnth

 

[sarabande]

Give Oiltechnics a call. They have all kinds of biodegradeable cleaners used by the oil industry and R Navy.

http://www.oiltechnics.co.uk/


I used some of their Sola in bilges under similar circumstances one summer. Left the mixture for 40 hours and all the residual oil was eaten up by clever bacteria or enzymes. Apparently it then becomes safe to put down a drain, whereas ordinary solvents e.g. Fairy Liquid, are not.

 

[Marsupial]

. whereas ordinary solvents e.g. Fairy Liquid, are not.

Please explain