Getting old engine oil off the insides of the boat.. hope someone can advise?

[jamie N]

Liberal detergent, 'damply' applied, then with oil absorbant pads scattered around to take up.

 

[dgadee]

I used cellulose thinners to get rid of very heavy oil staining which seemed glued on in the bilges. Wiped away with little effort. Just use lots of ventilation.

 

[PetiteFleur]

I used a bilge cleaner - Bilgex from memory - mixed with very hot/boiling water and scrubbed with a firm brush then cleaned up and repeated. It worked for me but all the woodwork had to be replaced as this still smelt of a mixture of oil and diesel. Then painted with a bilge paint.

 

[TQA]

Has anyone tried a hot water pressure washer with a degreaser. It is what the truck and car boys use on manky oily engines. It certainly worked for me when I was running a garage.

You also need a big bilge pump.

 

[Iliade]

Under no circumstances use petrol, but I'm sure you didn't need to be told that.

Personally I would avoid a pressure washer because of the collateral mess they cause.

Cheap biological detergents (clothes washing powders) left to soak do a pretty good job on the last traces once you have done a bulk removal. I like the sawdust idea, but if it is really bad, start with a trowel direct into the sludge...

 

[Babylon]

I had a massive oil leak in rough conditions some years ago (old engine), effected everywhere including the inaccessible bare ply backs of the engine bay panels, ran forward under the galley and quarter berth cabinet work, appalling mess everywhere, including very deep bilge, it literally took a month of weekends, once the old Bukh and prop-shaft was gone and access holes cut, to soak and scub and rinse, soak and scrub etc - working the three main zones in rotation.

Someone on here at the time had recommended an Aberdeen firm that supplied the CITRUS-based cleaning product used in the oil industry. Forgot the name, but it was brilliant.

That feeling on arriving, at the start of the fifth weekend, opening the hatch and NOT smelling any oil was fantastic!

Then repainted everywhere.

 

[Tradewinds]

Someone on here at the time had recommended an Aberdeen firm that supplied the CITRUS-based cleaning product used in the oil industry. Forgot the name, but it was brilliant.

That feeling on arriving, at the start of the fifth weekend, opening the hatch and NOT smelling any oil was fantastic!

Then repainted everywhere.

Maybe not the exact same product but we use Virosol - a heavy duty citrus cleaner.
I think it's very effective. We buy it 10 litres at a time (c£20) and use it neat where necessary - wear gloves though.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_...RC1.A0.H0.Xvirosol.TRS0&_nkw=virosol&_sacat=0

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Thinking about it with my chemists hat on an emulsifier would work once the bulk had been removed. It would lighten the hard work a little but in the end there is going to be a lot of scrubbing and deodorising.

 

[mersey]

Do you have a washing machine on board? You can recycle the used water from that, if you're doing 90c washes for sheets or something, even better

Take the pipe off the though hull fitting, and divert to the bilge, assuming you have a working bilge pump too.

 

[Kukri]

Thanks, everyone.