Cabin Odor

Oct 31, 2022
94
Catalina Capri 22 Huntington
Well the devil on my shoulder keeps haunting me to pursue a Catalina 42 I have been discussing here. The boat has had the classic "boat odor" that we all hear about do often for a long time. My wife has spent much time on the boat when my father owned it and it smelled then and smells now. I have done enough reading and have heard about Peggie Hall's book. My question is it really possible to eliminate these odors? That may be the last deciding factor on weather we move forward with this purchase. I am wondering if anyone has had any real life experiences removing most if not all of the bad bilge/mildew/septic smells from their boat?
 

jssailem

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Oct 22, 2014
24,739
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
With diligent effort, careful and complete cleaning, and proper construction of the head plumbing systems, the answer is yes.

I have a 53-year-old that passes the nose test for sensitive crew. It has gone through several iterations. and is a project that I monitor.

You should know it will be a project and require a lot of work hours on the boat. You can also hire the labor done, but the quality of the work will need supervision.
 
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Oct 31, 2022
94
Catalina Capri 22 Huntington
With diligent effort, careful and complete cleaning, and proper construction of the head plumbing systems, the answer is yes.

I have a 53-year-old that passes the nose test for sensitive crew. It has gone through several iterations. and is a project that I monitor.

You should know it will be a project and require a lot of work hours on the boat. You can also hire the labor done, but the quality of the work will need supervision.
Yea I do not think I can trust some one else to do it and willing to work at it hard myself as long as there is a reward for my efforts.
 
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Aug 17, 2013
1,338
Pearson P30 202 Ottawa
We did the same on our Pearson 30, at 54 years young, it was a real mess, leaking holding tank bladder did not help for the smell, but everything is #1 now.
Remove as much as you can to give better access, clean thoroughly with pure Ayr, we replaced the v berth platform as the wood was saturated with the smell, you have to get all the sources of the smell out of the boat, after we painted with a quality paint to seal everything and proceeded with the rebuild.
We are pleased with the results
It is doable but it is a lot of work.
As you mentioned, do not hire out to get a quality result
 
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dLj

.
Mar 23, 2017
5,172
Belliure 41 Back in the Chesapeake
The biggest smell reducing action in my boat was done by switching both of my standard heads to composting heads. No lingering head smell in the boat after that at all.

I highly recommend Peggies book.

One problem of eliminating odors are all your boat cushions. It's not too difficult to clean all your hard surfaces but the cushions are a challenge. Short of replacing all cushions and fabrics - an expensive job - I've never found a truly satisfactory way to get odors out of the cushions and fabric. Maybe someone here has better suggestions.

dj
 
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Oct 31, 2022
94
Catalina Capri 22 Huntington
The biggest smell reducing action in my boat was done by switching both of my standard heads to composting heads. No lingering head smell in the boat after that at all.

I highly recommend Peggies book.

One problem of eliminating odors are all your boat cushions. It's not too difficult to clean all your hard surfaces but the cushions are a challenge. Short of replacing all cushions and fabrics - an expensive job - I've never found a truly satisfactory way to get odors out of the cushions and fabric. Maybe someone here has better suggestions.

dj
Yea I am most concerned about the three spring mattresses and the main cabin cushions retaining the smell. Replacements are available at Catalina Direct but they are costly.
 

jssailem

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Oct 22, 2014
24,739
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
You may find that your mattress and cushions can be locally procured at a more favorable cost point.

The Pureayre product mentioned in Peggie's book is a really effective helper in your quest to rid the funk from your boat.
 
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Jan 11, 2014
14,146
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
We brought our cushions home to take the covers off and have the dry cleaned. After a few days the garage stunk like it had not before. It was the foam in the cushions. We kept the covers and replaced the foam with help from Sailrite.com.
 
Jun 21, 2004
3,207
Beneteau 343 Slidell, LA
Yes it is possible to rid a boat of foul odor.
First, I would recommend reading Peggy Hall’s book; it is well worth the expense & personal time to know what you need to do & products that will help.
I have cleaned two boats over the years with good results. First, try to determine the predominant odor source, then remove every item from the cabin that has the potential for absorbing & retaining odors. Attack the odor source & eliminate by cleaning, repairing, or replacement. Cushions aren’t necessarily a primary problem source; however, they absorb malodors & become a secondary odor emitter. You can replace the foam as @dlochner did or if the foam is in good shape, clean it. My foam was five years old so I opted to clean. I mixed a concoction of upholstery cleaner, Dawn, & bleach in a kiddie pool and thoroughly cleaned & rinsed them multiple times until the odor was gone. (same with covers, but no bleach). I used a shop vac to remove excess water & allowed them to remain outdoors in bright sun to thoroughly dry. Then, they were moved into my garage for a couple weeks with an air blower continuously directed on them. It was quite a bit of work; however, the odor was completely eliminated. After the primary odor source is eliminated, ALL hard & soft surfaces in the cabin need to be wiped down with a mold cleaner & disinfectant, then ventilate the cabin with an air blower. After there is no odor onboard, then move the cushions, PFD’s, & remaining items back on board. The head is always a potential odor source, so keep the holding tank pumped out & rinsed & replace the hoses when they become permeated. Try to keep the cabin ventilated to reduce odors. I agree with others that it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to find someone who would do a thorough cleanup that this task demands.
 

colemj

.
Jul 13, 2004
1,131
Dolphin Catamaran Dolphin 460 Mystic, CT
Mixing dish soap with bleach is a mistake. Possibly also bleach with upholstery cleaner, depending on what is in the cleaner. The amines in dish soap can form toxic fumes with bleach, but more importantly, both of those components require different pH ranges to work. The basic dish soap prevents the bleach from doing anything at all, so its addition is useless.

Better to do a 2-part cleaning, where bleach is used by itself before or after the detergent wash. Before is probably more effective.

Mark
 
Jun 21, 2004
3,207
Beneteau 343 Slidell, LA
Mixing dish soap with bleach is a mistake.
Better to do a 2-part cleaning, where bleach is used by itself before or after the detergent wash. Before is probably more effective.
It worked for me. I used it outdoors, & didn’t notice any fumes. There are a multitude of cleaners/detergents that have bleach as a component. Agree that if you are concerned, do the 2 part clean.
 
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Jan 19, 2010
13,018
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
Remove as much as you can to give better access, clean thoroughly with pure Ayr, we replaced the v berth platform as the wood was saturated with the smell, you have to get all the sources of the smell out of the boat, after we painted with a quality paint to seal everything and proceeded with the rebuild.
I had a persistent mildew odor in one of my boat restoration projects. After removing all of the headliner (carpet) and other soft materials, I performed a thorough deep cleaning. While that eliminated most of the smell, there was still a slight odor remaining. I then painted all of the hard surfaces with:


1790027123749.png


This stuff is great For mildew smells !!!. Not sure how it would work on ....:poop::beer:
 
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jssailem

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Oct 22, 2014
24,739
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
:beer: does have a yeasty smell. Stale beer, especially.
 
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Sep 24, 2018
4,669
Catalina 30 MKIII Chicago
I've heard of fruit in beer but never :poop::beer:. I'd say they have a very good marketing team if they managed to convince someone to try it!

I forgot to close a couple of hatches when washing the boat. The cushions were soaked! We pulled them off the boat and into the house. The hallway they were stored in stunk like a boat! Then slowly, over the next few weeks the smell disappeared. The cushions where removed from the covers. I replaced the plastic barrier inside when reinstalling
 
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Sep 24, 2018
4,669
Catalina 30 MKIII Chicago
This could be considered a retro fitting like those on furniture of the 40s and 50s.
View attachment 239749
The plastic that sticks with you when you get up on a hot day!

This is actually a thin piece of plastic sheet around the foam inside the cover. I'm guessing it protect the foam from getting wet. You can replace it with many different types of plastic, even a garbage bag. Each one will make more or less noise
 
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colemj

.
Jul 13, 2004
1,131
Dolphin Catamaran Dolphin 460 Mystic, CT
This is actually a thin piece of plastic sheet around the foam inside the cover. I'm guessing it protect the foam from getting wet.
It is there to make installing the cushion into the cover easier.

Mark