How to clean inside the hull...battery area

[James0816]

I have a 1993 Godfrey Hurricane Deck boat. I am trying to give it a good cleaning both inside and out.

Inside the hull where the batteries and other such items are has become very black from mildew and other crudiness. I know I won't of course be able to clean out the entire area but for what I can see/get to, what is the best of doing it?

I was wondering if I can use a product like Star Bright and spray everything down in there and then hose it out real good?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Chris1956]

Sure, but to kill mildew, bleach is real good, and won't hurt fiberglass.

 

[James0816]

Sure, but to kill mildew, bleach is real good, and won't hurt fiberglass.

I'm pretty sure Star Bright has a high concentration of bleach in it if not just plain bleach itself. Has worked like a charm so far. best part is no scrubbing has been needed yet.

 

[James0816]

I believe the space is called the bilge area.

 

[shrew]

I mix a little bleach in a spray bottle with water. A quarter of a cup of bleach is way more than enough. Spray everything down lightly and walk away. Everything should evaporate in a about a day or so. I'll hit it on a Sunday and leave for the week. The following friday it looks like someone pressure washed the bilge. This prevents overboard discharge and takes a fraction of the time of trying to spray and wipe everything down.

 

[JoLin]

I have a pump-up insecticide sprayer that I sometimes use to get into spaces I can't reach. The long wand is great, and you can vary the spray pattern to put your cleaning stuff where you want it. It doesn't have much pressure, so it won't 'drive' liquid into places you don't want it to go. After I've sprayed with cleaning solution, I re-spray with plain water to flush it out.

My .02

 

[Mischief Managed]

I accidentally learned that a broken and leaking mercruiser exhaust manifold drain plug will do a really nice job of cleaning the bilge. I had been on plane for over an hour prior to slowing for a no wake zone where I first heard the bilge pump going, so I have no idea how many gallons of very hot water made it through my bilge, but the hot water did a great job of cleaning it without any chemicals.

I have had excellent results with a scrub brush, mild detergent and pressure washer rinse in the past.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I use a mixture of 2 cups bleach, 1/2 cup fabuloso ( or simple green, or 409), and about 1 gallon water in the garden sprayer. Hose down the bilge area, let sit for 20 minutes, hose it down again, wait another 20 minutes, then rinse with the area with the garden hose

 

[JoLin]

I accidentally learned that a broken and leaking mercruiser exhaust manifold drain plug will do a really nice job of cleaning the bilge. I had been on plane for over an hour prior to slowing for a no wake zone where I first heard the bilge pump going, so I have no idea how many gallons of very hot water made it through my bilge, but the hot water did a great job of cleaning it without any chemicals.

Great tip! I'm gonna break mine today! :joyous:

 

[shrew]

I also use a 1 gallon garden sprayer for tough to reach bilge areas. Sometimes that oversprays a little. The idea is that there is no need to use pressure washers or garden hoses to to spend hours scrubbing with brushes and sponges, then wiping things down. This takes a fraction of the time, is way less messy and does the same job. Plus hoses and pressures washers requires the bilge be drained. It's not ideal to dump bleach water anwhere, but particularly in the water. Since I get my boat in a slip for 6 months of the year, I don't want to pump that into the water.

 

[jkust]

For your older boat that may really need a good cleaning I would degrease then mix some bleach with dish soap to keep it from running or over spraying.

Then to maintain once it is cleaned up, I would get some Spray Nine that is meant to kill viruses, bacteria etc for the bildge area and actually top side as well. I just cleaned my only slightly dirty bilge on my recently acquired boat that wasn't as clean as I keep my stuff and the Spray Nine works excellent. Was actually surprised how well it works without having bleach in it. I hate to have bleach touch non fiberglass items such as you find in a bilge such as hoses and wires. Spray Nine is a marine specific product for cleaning boats not a household chemical. As I stood at West Marine overwhelmed by cleaning chemicals, a yacht sales owner was there buying stuff and he directed me to things that work better than others on the shelf given his extreme amount of detailing and cleaning experience.