What is the best way to clean the oil/diesel residue from inside the hull of a sailboats confined spaces after a spill? Remaining is a fatty an greasy lining not easily dissolved by degreasers I applied.
Use paper towel to remove as much as you can then spray with some $1.99 Supercheap spray degreaser and paper towel again. Once it looks clean you can hose it off with water. Just be sure you have enough fresh air to breathe and use a respirator with organic cartridge if you have one. On larger boat a vacuum cleaner outside the confined space with hose sucking the air from the lower part works good as an emergency fan extractor. 
On out ski boats we used to put half a bucket of fresh water with three or four cups of napisan, or equivalent. Then go for our last ski run and drain it on the ramp. The soap is biodegradable, unlike degreaser.
You could chuck the water in, with the napisan, go for a sail, then pump it once the grease is cleaned up. Any reside can then be dried up with towels.
1 amazing oil/petrol disperser/degreaser is simple green.
Used by super yachts in marinas when they have spills. Quite amazing to see it work. Try it. Spray on Any oil/petrol slick on waters surface and watch it vanish.
I always keep simple green in the fuel locker.
Please guys, dont ditch your oil contaminated water back into the ocean or river.
You are required to comply with MARPOL requirements the same as I have to at work, penalties are the same here or there.
Simple Green does work a treat, no doubt about it (we use it all the time to clean deck plates and washout the bilges) but is still illegal to use to break up spills or to ditch overboard.
We all (yachties) have bad enough reputations for doing the wrong things so please ..... dispose of the residue into the correct bins and containers ..... and that is not the big blue holding tank.
Ditch it into the ocean/river/waterways at your own peril.
apologies if it sounds like a rant but work with guys who consider all yachties to be "WAFI's" .... but some do live up to the acronym.
Select to expand quotedkd said..
Please guys, dont ditch your oil contaminated water back into the ocean or river.
You are required to comply with MARPOL requirements the same as I have to at work, penalties are the same here or there.
Simple Green does work a treat, no doubt about it (we use it all the time to clean deck plates and washout the bilges) but is still illegal to use to break up spills or to ditch overboard.
We all (yachties) have bad enough reputations for doing the wrong things so please ..... dispose of the residue into the correct bins and containers ..... and that is not the big blue holding tank.
Ditch it into the ocean/river/waterways at your own peril.
apologies if it sounds like a rant but work with guys who consider all yachties to be "WAFI's" .... but some do live up to the acronym.
no one said anything about ditching oil/petrol into the water.
Personally i use simple green on my boat in my fuel lockers, or if i spill a small amount when filling my outboards fuel tank. I then wipe with rags soaking it up . Yes these rags may have a small amount of petrol.
Does anyone have better suggestions for materials to mop up spills than paper towels? Every time I sponge up greasy bilge water from the stern gland I think a single disposable nappy could do this job in one foul swoop.
Select to expand quoteWander66 said..
Does anyone have better suggestions for materials to mop up spills than paper towels? Every time I sponge up greasy bilge water from the stern gland I think a single disposable nappy could do this job in one foul swoop.
At work we use "oil soak" its a perforated ( easily torn into smaller rectangles) felt type material made out of recyclables .Grey in color. It comes via Cat spare parts ,but there must be other places that sell it also.
parts.cat.com/en/catcorp/absorbents-and-spill-kits#facet:&productBeginIndex:0&orderBy:&pageView:grid&minPrice:&maxPrice:&pageSize:&
Treat your self to a PSS seal kit 
then lay a piece of oil soak down
That's my theory the boat has not been in thew water since Ill let you know
The CAT pads and others made by 3M (altho' typically expensive) are perfect for the task
We use them endlessly around the machinery spaces .... maybe wastefully sometimes but are excellent, best part is they don't soak up water .... just the oil
When i cleaned my bilge during the last haul out, after cleaning and scraping, i used sawdust to soak up the residue, ( not too fine ), then the rinse out with concentrated dish washing detergent then flush with water.
Select to expand quoteGuitz said..
When i cleaned my bilge during the last haul out, after cleaning and scraping, i used sawdust to soak up the residue, ( not too fine ), then the rinse out with concentrated dish washing detergent then flush with water.
Saw dust works well.
I once started work in a place and first job was Oxy weld a exhaust up put my glasses on and started wire welding .
All of a sudden some one yells out fire I took my glasses of and the whole pit was on fire .
Jump out and grabbed a extinguisher put it out.
What I didn't know some one cleaned the pit out with petrol and saw dust 
great kindling if you can get it .
I have a constant fight with pollution on the Harbour to keep the hull clean on my yacht. I use Palmolive Original as it lathers in salt water but sometimes even degreeser or phosphoric acid is failing to get the gunk off.
No wonder, if the river cats are allowed to flush their bilges west of the Bridge, we are all doomed to suffer the same faith. 
Select to expand quotesirgallivant said..
No wonder, if the river cats are allowed to flush their bilges west of the Bridge, we are all doomed to suffer the same faith.
But don't you even think of doing the same, the government doesn't like people that imitate what they do.
