# Good Homemade Bilge Cleaner



## Kick Some Bass

Any good ideas for a homemade bilge cleaner? The economy sucks and I need to save cash.

KsB


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## CCC

Sprayed mine down with bleach and she sparkles now.


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## Hewes your daddy?

Try Purple Power and a sweeper nozzle on your hose. Spray down with cleaner let set ten minutes or so and rinse away with sweeper nozzle. Clean as a whistle.


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## The Maintenance Shoppe

chlorine from (pool supply store) and simple green 
1 cup chlorine, 1 cup simple green mixed in windex type spray bottle, spray in bilge spray on boat, don't spray rubber hatch seals. Let sit a couple minutes and then rinse off. It will be snow white new.


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## Kenton

Wirelessly posted (Matt)



The Maintenance Shoppe said:


> chlorine from (pool supply store) and simple green
> 1 cup chlorine, 1 cup simple green mixed in windex type spray bottle, spray in bilge spray on boat, don't spray rubber hatch seals. Let sit a couple minutes and then rinse off. It will be snow white new.


Will this work for the deck too?


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## jim t

Purple Power will melt those rubber(?) heat shrink connectors. And loosen any electrical tape you might use.

Jim


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## The Maintenance Shoppe

Kenton said:


> Wirelessly posted (Matt)
> 
> 
> 
> Will this work for the deck too?


Yes, it will.


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## lobsterman

jim t said:


> Purple Power will melt those rubber(?) heat shrink connectors. And loosen any electrical tape you might use.
> 
> Jim


 
Whats in it Muriatic acid?


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## ds_expert

I don't know what's in that Purple Power stuff, but it will also discolor any aluminum that gets in it's way.


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## The Maintenance Shoppe

ds_expert said:


> I don't know what's in that Purple Power stuff, but it will also discolor any aluminum that gets in it's way.


PURPLE POWER is an alkaline base cleaner as opposed to an acidic cleaner IT WILL EAT, OXIDIZE, and CORRODE aluminum, read the warnings they are real.


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## pappastratos

scrubbing bubbles


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## The Maintenance Shoppe

Soft scrub, comet, ajax.


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## Orion45

Krud Kutter. Available at Lowe's. Home Depot, Ace Hardware, Target, True Value Hardware, plus more.

Additional info, Material Safety Data Sheet, and Technical Data Sheet: http://www.krudkutter.com/originalkrudkutter.asp

Bonus: Only thing that I know that will clean the grease off kitchen vent hoods.


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## Kick Some Bass

I'm going to shoot for the bleach and simple green solutions. Seems safer than purple power. I have purple power but use it only diluted to clean scum line on boat bottom.

KsB


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## The Maintenance Shoppe

Bleach is over $1.50 a gallon. A gallon of Industrial chlorine dilutes to be about 15 gallons of bleach. A gallon of chlorine cost about $1.25..... The savings and strength is in buying the chlorine instead of the weak ass bleach. Get out your calculator, do the math, then head to the pool store and see some REAL results!!!!!!!!!


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## Hewes your daddy?

You asked for a bilge cleaner, not a wire connector and aluminum cleaner. My wires don't lay in my bilge and I have no aluminum in my bilge so this is a non issue. All I know is my bilge is always shiney clean. I'm sure the salt water in your bilge has more of a harmful effect on wiring than a product touted as an engine cleaner and degreaser ever would. Why on earth would anybody use electical tape to hold any thing together on a boat in the first place. I have several years experience as a boat rigger and understand the need and use of water proof heat shrink connectors.


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## Kick Some Bass

Done deal. Used a combination of bleach, simple green, and dawn. Mixed it win a few buckets of hot water and poured it in. Let it sit for about 2-hours, and now it sparkles clean. Next time I'll do up a mixture and take the boat for a ride down the street to get it to slosh around and then let it out. Thanks for the tips, hope whatever you use works well.

KsB


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