Bilge Cleaners, What works?

[Jeff Asbury]

Bilge Cleaners, What works?

I serviced my bilge pump over the weekend and found a lot of sludge that was like oil. I thought the mechanic that installed the pump 4 years ago would have said how bad it was when he put in the pump. Anyway I found all sorts of goodies, fishing lures, hardware, electrical tape and god knows what in lumps of black goo. I got out all I could but there is still some residue of the black stuff. I am sure it's made up of diesel fuel saltwater and water from the ice box.

Do these Bilge Cleaners that they sell over the counter really work? They say to pour them in and let them slosh around while underway and they will keep it nice and sweet smelling. True?

 

[Guy Stevens]

Bilge Bully

This stuff is citrus based, from CRC and works. It is the only one that we have tried that actually does work. It can make a really powerfull smell while it is working though, so make sure you are well ventalated below decks when using.

We tried just about all of them on a variety of boats that we work on here. None of them did anything except Bilge Bully.

Also we let bilge bully go to work with some hot water to start with, then we go in wiht a shop vac and some pieces of PVC and vacuum out even the deep and hard to get to areas. Makes a world of difference!!!

Guy

 

[Jeff Asbury]

That's the kind of review I want to hear.

Thank You Guy!

That's the kind of review I want to hear. I am tired of paying for stuff that doesn't do what it claims. Bilge Bully sounds like the industrial stuff I need.

 

[Seth]

Bilge cleaner

I used to know a great one. I think his name was "Bob". Best I ever used!

 

[Jeff Asbury]

Bob wasn't available this time.

Thanks Seth, Bob wasn't available this time.

 

[Annapolis E-27]

Try Simple Green too

Simple Green was what finally took the diesel odor out of my bilge when my fuel tank decided to drain itself into the bilge. It is supposed to be non-toxic and really cut the grease and odor. Now it even comes in lemon scent.

 

[Dan Hayes]

Bilge Betty?

That's a great idea about the shop vac - I've been putting off the same chore on my boat, because the only solution I could come up with was using a hand pump, and pumping it into a bucket and hauling it up to the head. The shop vac, maybe lined with a plastic trash bag, sounds like a great solution.

I was thinking about using Simple Green, as it's a pretty "natural" product and the fumes, though annoying, don't seem to be toxic. Where do you buy Bilge Buddy?

 

[Guy Stevens]

Bilge Bully VS Simple Green

My experience is there is no comparison. Bilge bully works like magic, simple green can be good for degreasing the engine, but didn't seem to work well in the bilge for us.

We get it up here at a local chandlery called Svendsens.

Note that the stuff that West does carry is supposedly the same product remarketed by CRC...
CRC Industries, Inc. MARYKATE® Big Bully® Natural Orange Bilge Cleaner. Looks like about $10.00 at west for less than 16 oz I would look around at the local chandleries and see if you can get the 2 gallon size, which costs us about $12.

We buy it in 2 gallon jugs for work on customer's boats, and it has none of the Marykate stuff on it.... Just called Bilge Bully in that size container..... What kind of a manly man would get a product named Marykate.....


Guy

 

[u079721]

Anyone try quats?

I too would have suggested Simple Green as a good choice. I wonder whether other citrus based cleaners and degreasers would work as well as Bilge Bully? I have rarely found a boat specific product whose performance couldn't be duplicated with a non-boating product (at half the price) - the trick is just to find it.

Our bilge never collected grease or oil, but even so we found that it gave off a pretty sour odor after a week of living aboard. Remembering how effective the humidifyer preservative I used over the winter was at preventing mold growth in our furnace, I decided to try some in the bilge. The result was remarkable. Just a capful or two every couple of days kept the bilge absoutely odor free. The quats that make up the active ingredients of these preservatives are non-toxic (to humans at least) and non corrosive, so they are pretty safe to use in your bilge. They won't help at all if you have deisel odors or rotting food in the bile, but they work great at keeping the growth down.

 

[chaco]

Orange Magic

Try the gallon size ZEP Orange Cleaner available at your local HomeDepot.
I use this product direct for bilge cleaning and diluted for decks.
It's always good to have things on the boat that have multiple uses.
Saves on having a million different containers in lockers that you can't find.
I also relish in ferreting out legitimate products from the commercial
stores that are marine quality with normal labels
I get a warm fuzzy feeling every time I don't have to go to THAT store

I also give the bilge pump a rinse with clean water so the icky bilge water
doesn't sit in the hoses and ruin the impellar.

Happy Cleaning ! /) /)

 

[NGB]

Costco's green all-purpose cleaner works well, too. It is biodegradable and cuts grease like a champ.

 

[wurzner]

Castrol Superclean gets my vote of a no marine product

You can get a gallon of it at GI Joe's for around 7 bucks. It is suppose to be biodegradeable and it works really well. I haven't tried the other products mentioned, but can say it cleaned the accessable part of my bilge very nicely. It comes in a purple container and in the description, it mentions marine/bilge cleaning as one of the applications. It may be one of those other products mentioned in the non-marine version. It does smell, but not as bad as simply green. After looking at Guys's website and reading a bunch of his posts, I would go with what he says and try the other products as a secondary source. He's been around the block a few times and has obviously used many products over the years. If you ever feel taking on a daunting task, drop by his web site and look at what he's done on his boat. Almost as impressive as the guy who buys a set of tires and builds a car to use them on. Guy has taken a nice boat that needed some work and really done it right!

shaun

 

[Jeff Meier]

isn't simple green corrosive?

someone might correct me, but i've heard that simple green is very corrosive to metals. i've avoided using it on metal inside the boat, and any metal in general that i cannot hose off. it might be fine for use in the bilge if you flush it out real good afterwards.

 

[Emerald]

[snip] i've heard that simple green is very corrosive to metals. [snip]

You really got my curiosity up, so I started some searching and it looks like it may indeed be bad on at least aluminum. Check this link out regarding NOT cleaning aircraft with Simple Green:


http://www.chinook-helicopter.com/maintenance/issues/cleaners/cleaners.html


and then on more digging I find a Simple Green product for Aviation specifically that is touted as non-corrosive:


http://industrial.simplegreen.com/ind_prod_ext_mor.php


So, I think this is worth contacting the folks who make the stuff instead of trying to speculate....

-David
Independence 31
Emerald

 

[chaco]

Watch out using the Simple Green and Castrol type products on fiberglass
gelcoat. As they are not immediately removed with a vigorous water flush
they will STAIN your deck or hull YELLOW. Really hard to get the stain out of the surface if you leave ANY on the gelcoat. Sounds good for bilge cleaning.
That's why I switched to the orange cleaner for gelcoat cleaning.

 

[hcpookie]

What about good 'ol dishwashing soap? I have some at home that says "no phosphates" and biodegradeable. Joy soap IIRC. I wonder if that would be OK?

 

[Guy Stevens]

Fine stuff for light dirt.

Joy is great if you only have light dirt, and don't mind washing the suds out over and over again.

Joy doesn't touch the heavier oils and buildup on the walls of the bilge.

Note that after using bilge bully we pump out the boats at the local bilge pump out.... Or we remove the water in buckets and dispose of it in accordance with local regulations. Even though it is biodegradable, and environmentally friendly out of the bottle, nothing is when mixed with oil. Emulsified oil is bad for the water and the critters that live in it.

Guy