Fish blood & guts and more - how to remove?

[Rich Stidger]

This has been a perfectly horrid year for bird damage to our boats here in Bristol, RI. Something has happened to the eco-system, and now the gulls are catching foot-long fish, dropping them on the deck and bimini's and eating them. The result is many fish carcasses, lots of blood, and of course the resulting eliminations of the birds. Since this mess is not found until days later, the stains are set quite well.

So now at the end of the season I am trying to do a final clean-up. Can anyone recommend products that actually work on fiberglass and Sunbrella? I can read the ads and claims, and I believe that most products are over-hyped. I need personal recommendations that work.

I am planning on using a power washer very gently in a week upon my return to the boat for winter covering. Meanwhile I have my canvas at home and want to clean it. Check the pictures-

 

[Stu Jackson]

Sorry to see that, Rich.

Sunbrella: I wouldn't use anything that they do not recommend on their website.

Hull & deck: ITWMB - Simple Green, Lysol Mildew Remover & FSR, followed by a Maine Sail wax detailing.

Good luck.

 

[25yearslater]

I thought i had it bad with the swarms of swallows and the berry stains. Sorry to see that Rich. I have been using this stuff from Dollar General out of desperation. Spray it on, scrub with a small scrub brush with fairly stiff bristles and the mold, mildew and berry stains along with any wax is gone. You can actually see it foam up with the yuck stuff. It does contain bleach but it does work. Don't use it on Sunbrella.

 

[ben payne]

I use "la awesome" cleaner on my sails, sailcovers and dodger/bimini, decks, winches, stove, dingy ect. it gets out anything. you can use it on anything. I get it at the dollar tree in saltpond plaza, Narragansett.

 

[All U Get]

From Sailrite,
https://sailrite.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/how-to-clean-sunbrella-fabric/
From me: head south with the rest of us.

All U Get

 

[Whigman]

I don't recommend it on a gazillion dollar yacht with a solid gold deck or anything but toothpaste always worked for me. And on Bimini covers I used diluted laundry detergent and a brush. Also if now is I've only done these things on boats I've paid less than 1500 bucks for

 

[Rich Stidger]

I use "la awesome" cleaner on my sails, sailcovers and dodger/bimini, decks, winches, stove, dingy ect. it gets out anything. you can use it on anything. I get it at the dollar tree in saltpond plaza, Narragansett.

I too use the LA Awesome but it barely touched this stuff on the deck. I haven't tried anything yet on the Sunbrella.

 

[Rich Stidger]

From Sailrite,
https://sailrite.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/how-to-clean-sunbrella-fabric/
From me: head south with the rest of us.

All U Get

Thanks, Tom. It had not yet occurred to me to check with the Sunbrella people or SailRite. I will try their formulas first.

 

[Bad Obsession]

An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure.

Prevention: 12 Gauge Shotgun and alka seltzer. LOL

Just kidding about that. Sailrite should have the answer. Also, when getting some stuff their stuff for cleaning your clear vinyl for your windows works well.

 

[Rick D]

I wish I had a workable suggestion. However, watch out for simple green on aluminum. It can etch it.

 

[Rich Stidger]

I will try the Sunbrella suggestions on their stain chart and will report my results.

 

[ben payne]

for the decks try dawn mixed with sugar(put dawn in cup, ad sugar, use scrub brush) then wash off. re wax after, as the dawn and sugar will take off the top coat of wax. (yes I do wax my decks, it not only protects{u.v resistant}but makes water move better.) also not as slippery as some may think (I use wax on my surfboards, although not the same, same idea) another idea is one that I have seen (although don't endorse) is more of a preventative measure. it calls for a 12ga shotgun and some string. kill one seagull, and hang. I have seen some people hang rubber chickens upside down,(think those useless owls that are on all kinds of places) and another guy was using mop heads (that was in belize){ I could only imagine what that was like after it rained.} don't forget the elbow grease, as it will improve any cleaning. ( I use it all the time, and it works better than bleach)

 

[Stu Jackson]

My understanding is that they invented white wine to remove red wine stains. No idea why there is a "rose."

 

[Rich Stidger]

I have a partial answer to the removal of the blood and fish guts. On the deck I used full strength Purple cleaner that I bought at Home Depot. Sprayed it on, waited 10 minutes or so, and then used an electric power washer with a fan tip to power off the stuff. The electric washer is only 1800 psi and I used it with about a 1.25 inch fan at 6-7 inches off the deck. In other words I didn't blast it with the full concentrated power. This process removed all of the guts and only a few stains were left. I'm not even sure if the remaining stains were from the fish; they may have been a spot of oil or grease from another source. I plan on using On and Off next Spring on the remaining spots.

The bimini is another issue. I have tried LA Awesome (Dollar Store) cleaner full strength and used a brush and finally the pressure washer. I probably got off 70-80% but there are still a lot of stains. On the Sunbrella website (which I didn't see until after I tried the LA Awesome) suggested using the Purple cleaner with ammonia. That will be my next attempt.

Stay tuned for further results.

 

[Brian S]

For clean up, you might try Amazing Roll Off, as recommended by Jackdaw. Then, once you've got it clean, you probably want to treat your decks with either Aurora Sure Step, or Woody Wax. I have found that Woody Wax needs to be applied fairly frequently, and needs fresh water wash, but fisherman with newer gelcoat than mine say the Woody Wax lets the blood and guts wash off with just a hose. Then again, that's blood and guts from that day's fishing, probably not from a week of baking in the sun while you aren't at your boat...

 

[alexco38]

Best solution is camouflage Sunbrella. It doesn't matter as it doesn't show.

Need to send this request to Sunbrella.

 

[Rich Stidger]

An update on the blood and guts removal from the Sunbrella-
On the Sunbrella website is a chart of stains and recommended cleaners for removal. I was surprised to see "Blood (Dried)" in the list! The recommendation was to use a mix of Dawn and ammonia in water. I didn't have Dawn available so I used Ajax dish liquid instead. I wet the canvas with full hot water (air temp was 40-50 degrees outside) and scrubbed the canvas with a scrub brush and the hot mix..... twice. I was able to remove all of the solids of the blood and guts, but I still have a number of dark stains.
Since it is getting colder up here in the northeast, I have decided to wait until Spring to continue with additional cleaning. I can certainly get some Dawn, but I question if it will make a difference. I may just have to live with the stains. They are on the top and not readily visible, so the situation could be worse.

Perhaps you CSI enthusiasts have a blood stain removal suggestion?

 

[Ken Cross]

Long term they may sun bleach to uniform color.
Ken

 

[woodster]

Perhaps you CSI enthusiasts have a blood stain removal suggestion?

not ....no matter what you use the luminal will still find the blood

 

[Rich Stidger]

If the bimini was a body I would just bury it.