Hot tip: rid cabin of diesel smell, head & other odors

[Sweet_Pea]

Our dry stack marina started diesel service and we asked them to top off our boat. We specified the number of gallons, but communication broke down somewhere along the line and they overfilled the tank. The pressure loosened the screw fitting going from our Webasto heater to the fuel tank, leaking fuel into the bilge. (Lesson learned: always fill the tank ourselves!)

The smell remained in bedding and clothing that were in the cabin, despite soaking in vinegar and vigorous washing. Then, we discovered a great odor-eliminating product: PureAyre (boat formula) https://www.pureayre.com/products-boats.htm, made in Kent, WA. PureAyre has an enzyme that works on head, bilge, vomit, fish, gasoline, diesel, pet, cat urine and other odors. We put 6 oz in the wash with a 30 mins pre-soak cycle, and it totally eliminated the scent. Our duvet cover isn't washable, so we sprayed one side and let it dry. Surprisingly, we didn't need to spray the reverse side. One treatment did the job.

Once we get the bilge completely cleaned, we plan to apply the spray to our mattress, curtains and monkey fur. Will let you know how it works in the cabin. We also plan to oil the teak with orange oil, which should help.

We highly recommend this for your emergency maintenance list.

 

[Gin]

Amy & Paul,

Although I hope I never need this product, good to know. Hadn’t heard of it before and it is both nice to know about as well as to have your first-hand experience using it. Thanks for the post.

Gini

 

[Sweet_Pea]

You bet...found it during a desperate Google search 🙂 Evidently it was on Shark Tank. The Sharks didn't bite, but the product seems to work as advertised.

BTW: edited this post to add a few other problems this product is supposed to address, that may be of help to some of you with on-board pets.

 

[Sweet_Pea]

Quick update for those following this thread.

After siphoning off some gallons of fuel, we treated the bilge with a couple applications of Starbrite (biodegradable) orange bilge cleaner, which helped clean the bilge of fuel, and diminished but didn’t rid the cabin of diesel scent.

There was a heavy smell inside the cabinet area under the sink, so sprayed Pure Ayre in the open space behind the sink and noticed the smell inside the cabinets immediately dissipated.

We poured a couple of cups of Pure Ayre on top of the fuel tank (behind the access door on the cabin step) where the fuel had leaked into the bilge. Again, smell went away. But after we left the boat and returned a week later, a faint odor remained in the cabin. Happily, there was no odor inside the cabinets, but it remained around the fuel tank. We repeated the Pure Ayre treatment over the fuel tank (which drained into the bilge) before taking the boat out two more times, letting it slosh around the bilge. This week, we returned to find no lingering odor in the cabin. Three times a charm.