Bilge Bath is an excellent product for this project as it will cut through the sludge as well as the oil, grease and guck. It will also improve the smell. Oxidized oil and grease can give a nasty odor.

I suggest that you get a small, long handled scrub brush, and an old spray bottle. Spray the Bilge Bath onto the area you want to clean and scrub to lift it off the surface, and then rinse it with water. Be environment responsible and contain the effluent so it can be disposed of on land. Do not flush this gunk into the water or dump it onto the ground. If there is a heavy build up in some areas you may want to start by removing as much as you can with a scraper first.

When you get most of it off, repeat the spray onto the area and then agitate it with a paint brush and then rinse again. This should get it squeaky clean and smelling much better.

The product that you are looking for is Aurora Bilge Bath; called Bilge Bath because it gives your bilge a bath. In addition to emulsifying the oil so you can pump it out, it will also loosen the sludge on the inside of the hull. It contains Odolime to knock out any smell associated with the oil as well.

Simply pour some into the bilge with some water and take your boat out for a run. Let it sit for a few days and repeat until all the oil is emulsified with the water. Pump it out into a pail and dispose of it on land at the marina. Do not dump the oil into the lake or on land. Even though Bilge Bath is biodegradable, the oil that is in the mixture is not.

You can also give the bilge a scrub with a brush, using Bilge Bath and water to accelerate the action.

Bilge Cleaners are designed to emulsify oil and water so that it can be pumped out of the bilge. As you know, oil is lighter than water and floats on the surface. When you pump the water out of your bilge, the oil remains and sticks to the walls. As it oxidizes, it turns to sludge. It will also harbor bacterial growth which will result in smells, mold and mildew.

Aurora Bilge Bath is a bilge cleaner with several differences. It will emulsify oil and water, but it will also clean the sludge off the walls of your bilge, in otherwords it gives your bilge a bath. It’s water activated so you need water in the bilge to make it work. Simply pour in the required amount, take your boat out for a run or sail and the sloshing action will emulsify the oil and grease and strip the sludge off the walls.

It is possible to scrub the bilges clean with most bilge cleaners, but many of todays boats do not allow access to the entire bilge surface so you can not get a scrub brush through the limber holes to do the scrubbing. Bilge Bath gets through the limber holes and cleans every nook and crany.

Bilge Bath contains Odolime, a proprietory odor counteractant that is proven to knock out the smell of diesel, stagnate salt water, gasoline, mold, mildew and other malodors. It leaves your bilge, and your boat, smelling fresh and clean.

Bilge Bath is water activated and will not attack any of the substrates found in you bilge, such as: wood, plastic, rubber, stainless, aluminum, fiberglass, etc. It’s concentrated so a little goes a long way. It needs to be reduced with water for maximum effectiveness.

It is biodegradable and therefore environment friendly. It important to note however, that oil and grease are not environment friendly so when you use it, you should turn off the automatic bilge pump switch to prevent accidental pumping overboard which can be damaging to the waterways and result in a fine. When you get back to shore, pump the bilge into buckets so that you can dispose of it at an appropriate site at your Marina.