Bilge cleaning not working

[Wave34]

The bilge seems to have never been cleaned by the previous owners.

I would like to make it shine!

I tried to brush with a bilge cleaner, but it removes only the loose stuff or deposits. There is a brown-pink color that remains on the gel coat.

I tried to use a steel wool, thinner, 3M grey pad without success.
The only thing that seems to work a little is sanding with 220 paper.

I would like to avoid to sand since there are bumps and depressions on the gelcoat and it is impossible to reach every where.

Is there a miracle product, or a power tool I can safely use to clean the bilge without making the job a summer project?

 

[Mohawkmtrs]

Those are stains...I'd get a brush-on bottom/hull cleaner made to remove stains, etc.

I've had good luck with CRC On & Off Hull and Bottom Cleaner...make sure you read the directions first.

 

[Chris1956]

I suspect your stains are rust.

CRC On & off is 3 kinds of acid(hydrocloric, oxalic and phosphoric) , plus alcohol. It should work well, but watch the fumes and protect your hands.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Try Lysol gel toilet bowl cleaner. Apply, scrub, rinse. It's cheap too for a few bucks at the $. I've tried everything sold as hull cleaner, it's not cheap and hasn't worked for me. I get it at the buck or 2 store.

 

[H20Rat]

Use the chemicals mentioned above with a drill brush. Those things are amazing at the mechanical part of scrubbing, they work great for boats!

 

[Wave34]

Use the chemicals mentioned above with a drill brush. Those things are amazing at the mechanical part of scrubbing, they work great for boats!

Do you mean a metal drill brush? Wouldn't that be too harsh?

 

[Wave34]

Try Lysol gel toilet bowl cleaner. Apply, scrub, rinse. It's cheap too for a few bucks at the $. I've tried everything sold as hull cleaner, it's not cheap and hasn't worked for me. I get it at the buck or 2 store.

I just tried Lysol toilet cleaner 50% with hydrogen peroxyde. It does the same job as the bilge cleaner, but the stains remain.

 

[Wave34]

I suspect your stains are rust.

CRC On & off is 3 kinds of acid(hydrocloric, oxalic and phosphoric) , plus alcohol. It should work well, but watch the fumes and protect your hands.

In my area, nobody keep that product in stock, it is on order.
I wanted to do that today, grrr.

 

[dingbat]

On/Off is designed to remove heavy calcium deposits, ie barnacles. Way over the top for day to day cleaning chores

I would start with a de-greaser like like Purple Power or Simple Green and a scrub brush to remove the oil and mold spores.

From there, get a bottle of Attwood instant hull cleaner from Walmart. Dilute 50% then spray it on and let it stir for 10 minutes. This will remove any organic stains such as rust and tannic acid (leaves/black water stains).

I will add, good old Starbrite "bilge cleaner" works wonders if used per directions. Pour the bottle in your bilge along with a couple gallons of water before heading out for the day. Nice and clean by the time you get back

 

[MTboatguy]

I have been using this on all kinds of things for years now, including gel coat and fiberglass, good product, I use it diluted in water to clean gel coat items.

https://www.zep.com/product/misty/bolex

 

[TBarCYa]

I've used "The Works" toilet cleaner from Walmart. It's like $2/bottle and it works great at removing stains and even barnacle residue. Heed the warnings above about harsh chemicals and acids tho as this is Muriatic acid I believe and is quite harsh.

If you prefer something more boat related, try "Davis FSR". It's a blue gel and is basically the same acids as the other cleaners but because it's a gel it stays where you put it.

In both cases, leave it on for 5 minutes or so and rinse off. Reapply as necesary.

 

[Wave34]

Thanks guys for the suggestions.
So many things to try!

I think I know what that stain is. It is only on starboard side.
I think at some point, someone dropped an ATF bottle while filling the trim tab reservoir, or a line detached from the pump.
The brownish color looks like there is a bit of pink in it.


Since I didn't find CRC on & off in my area, I bought a hull cleaner and applied it with a paint brush being careful not to touch bolts or electrical connections.
I let it sit for 2-3 minutes like the instructions say, and wiped with a damp cloth, and no difference! Stains are still there.

The only suggestion I got locally was to repaint the bilge, but I'm not there yet.

So far I tried a hull cleaner, a bilge cleaner, a mixture of 50% toilet cleaner and hydrogen peroxyde, 3M grey pad, sanding paper. Well, it seems to be really bonded to the gel coat.

I need to reinstall the batteries to be ready for the week end, so this project will be postponed I suppose.

 

[H20Rat]

Do you mean a metal drill brush? Wouldn't that be too harsh?

nope, just google drill brush. Bristles are plastic, you can get different hardness grades, from ultra soft to fairly stiff. I use them all over the place on the boat.

 

[Wave34]

nope, just google drill brush. Bristles are plastic, you can get different hardness grades, from ultra soft to fairly stiff. I use them all over the place on the boat.

Oh, nice. I will try to find one with stiff bristles.

 

[QBhoy]

Oxalic acid will remove this in 2 minutes. Read up on it and the procedure though. Literally no effort at al.

 

[Scott Danforth]

make sure you seal the holes in the bilge where you removed screws prior to hosing down the area with water or cleaner

you will need a bleach cleaner to kill the mold/mildew in there

and lastly, if you really want a shiny bilge, you will need to pull the motor and everything in the bilge, sand everything down, skim-coat the interior of the bilge with fairing and re-gel it.

 

[Wave34]

Oxalic acid will remove this in 2 minutes. Read up on it and the procedure though. Literally no effort at al.

Is it stronger than the acid in a hull cleaner? Because the hull cleaner barely worked.
Thanks.

 

[QBhoy]

Is it stronger than the acid in a hull cleaner? Because the hull cleaner barely worked.
Thanks.

Yeah. It’s basically like cutting out the middle man. It’s soecifically used to combat iron based oxide.

 

[Wave34]

The cleaning is done.
The bilge is clean, and the stain is gone maybe 90%. That is ok for now. I think I lost 10 pound in sweat in the last two days working in the bilge with temperatures and humidity quite high for the season.

After spending maybe $70 in products, going from brake cleaner, thinner, hull cleaner, bilge cleaner, culvert cleaner and more... this morning I got the idea to try Javex (bleach for cloth whitening) . Scott mentioned bleach, it worked for me.
I poured some on the stain, and after 3 minutes, to my surprise, 90% of the stain was gone!
So I used that with some rubbing and the result is quite nice and I'm happy.

 

[QBhoy]

Great result.