Advice from someone smarter than me!

[danshat]

After a long delay due to a knee injury I am finally back to work on my 34dc. After searching the previous threads it appears the easiest (cheapest) way to clean up 45 yrs of oil and grease is with powdered Tide. I am cleaning the entire inside of the boat (which is completely gutted) and plan on repainting. Previous posts indicate that Rustoleum makes a decent product for this purpose. Any experiences or advice that will prevent me from making this even more difficult would be appreciated.

If I can figure out how to resize I'll post some pics.

Thanks,

Dan

 

[danshat]

See if this works.

 

[drburke]

Welcome back, Dan. Take care of the knee during the cleanup.

I had just this discussion offline with Eric (smoothmove), who is using TSP. I welcome other thoughts as well, since similar work is underway on my boat. Like minds...

DAN

 

[Boatsb]

If its open like that the wonderful world of chemistry comes to mind.

Like Dissolves like. If there is lots of grease use a degreaser like the purple stuff or commercial floor stripper. If there is large globs scrape them. Hot water also helps.

I used the orange cleaner and the purple stuff and remover lots of goo. Tide and TSP is for lighter levels of grease. Power washing or another way of removing the old paint should also be considered.

 

[Traveler 45C]

Star Brite Super Orange Bilge Cleaner http://www.boatmartusa.com/marinema...e-bilge-cleaner-gallon-p-633.html?language=en

This stuff worked very well. It cleaned my bilges of years of grease and gunk without any elbow grease from me.

 

[Dan Mapes]

Would you guys use this stuff on the engines also?

 

[BUSTER]

Star Brite Super Orange Bilge Cleaner http://www.boatmartusa.com/marinema...e-bilge-cleaner-gallon-p-633.html?language=en

This stuff worked very well. It cleaned my bilges of years of grease and gunk without any elbow grease from me.

Agreed.....and a better and cheaper alternative is a product called "big orange" made by Zep manufacturing. We use it to degrease everything,engines,engine rooms,it doesn't matter.It does not damage paint,wood or your skin,it is completely detergent free and non-caustic.

Spray or pour it on,scrub thick grease with a scrub brush and rinse it away,The stuff is amazing,be careful not to get it in your eyes and if you store it for long periods of time in a spray bottle it will ruin the sprayer.

 

[Boatsb]

Thats the Orange cleaner and it's 1/3 the price of the starbrite at WM.

It's usually at home cheapo.

One thing to be careful of. It contains citrus oil and can burn.

 

[Passages]

Since this is a once in a lifetime cleanup up opportunity, I would recommend renting a steam or hotwater pressure washer. While the HD detergents will work, they will require a bit more scrubbing effort.

Once the inner hull is clean. Paint it with a good 2 part paint. (I'd go with high gloss bright white)

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Since this is a once in a lifetime cleanup up opportunity, I would recommend renting a steam or hotwater pressure washer. While the HD detergents will work, they will require a bit more scrubbing effort.

Once the inner hull is clean. Paint it with a good 2 part paint. (I'd go with high gloss bright white)

There is no question whatsover that you should steam clean the pants off of that stuff !!! Install a one inch bilge drain right where the water sits "in situ".
A steam cleaner will work better than a "hotsy" hot water pressure washer for this. When done, it should absolutely dry from any oil film and then awlgrip it!
If its not absolutely oil free, use an oil based paint like rustoleum. I just did a cursory wash down with a brush and a pressure washer in the water, and altho its better, its not yet clean enough to paint. ws

 

[Ross]

Dan ,you have been real busy.We used a product call Orpine.It is a gel that you mix with hot water.Did will good.About ten bucks for a 32 oz bottle.Painted with Interlux Bilge Coat gray.
Just read your post on the fuel tanks,Are they glassed in or tabed.Also need to replace mine this winter.Look farward to more pics as you move ahead.

 

[danshat]

Thanks for all the advice guys! So far we have done the aft cabin bilge area. My wife used the purple stuff from Zep. Worked really well. She put it in a spray bottle and went to town. I used the orange stuff and it worked better on the really nasty stuff then the purple did. I had my 11 yr old working the hose and washing everything down. He hosed it until it ran clean and then we dryed it all up. I used a mold and mildew resistant primer paint by Zinsser(?) that I got a home cheapo. I had the kid paint all of the side walls. It's all going to get covered when I start rebuilding but figured I might as well do it now because I probably won't be stupid enough to try a project like this again.

 

[danshat]

Here's a couple of pics!

 

[Walter P]

Dan,

I have to admire the ambition and energy of youth... You're doing a great job. The best thing about it is that it's a family project, everyone pitches in. That's a great way to insure your son's future by instilling a spirit of family teamwork.

Congratulations.....

Walt