Soaked With Motor Oil

[MESINC]

I recently started on a overhaul of a 1953 Atom Skier, 15' Correct Craft. Pulled the 4 cylinder Gray Marine out and now it time to get started.

After sitting for 22+ years in a garage with a slow leak from the oil drain plug, I have a hull that is saturated with 30W motor oil. Oil has made it's way through the wood and drips on on floor.

To be honest, I don't know were to begin. Any suggestions as to what can be done to remove the oil from the wood?

[Wayne Jeffers]

No real experience here, but . . .

Maybe some of the same absorbant stuff they use on garage floors to absorb oil? Kitty litter? Maybe a solvent applied to the oily wood would expedite the absorption?

Wayne

[Classic Boatworks - Maine]

Soak it with a strong detergent. Do not power wash ... it has to soak. Make sure you dispose of the waste water properly.

[nedL]

And then I would add - Don't worry about what is left after the cleaning with detergent, its not goingto hurt the wood.

[NormMessinger]

Hay, Classic. Haven't seen you around for a while. Good to see you again.

--Norm

[MESINC]

Any suggestions on the cleaner to use for soaking? What about a solvent?

[nedL]

Years ago we used to use a cleaner called "Janitor in a Drum" - a heavy duty household cleaner. I would say you could use anything like "MR. Clean", "Lestoil" etc. Hot water with the detergent & a scrub brush will help lift the oil out of the surface of the wood.

[ken mcclure]

Don't use a solvent. You'll wind up with a mix of solvent and motor oil soaking the wood. The solvent will probably be flammable and will make a not-too-bad situation a disaster.

Use any good degreaser. Formula 409, Janitor In A Drum or the like. You can spread kitty litter or cornmeal over the surface to soak up the degreaser/oil. As said, any residual oil won't hurt the wood.

[Scott Rosen]

Hot water and TSP (trisodium phosphate) will do the trick. You can buy tsp in powder form inexpensively by the pound at any paint or hardware store.

[Wayne Jeffers]

Another common detergent that is remarkably effective against grease/oil is automatic dishwasher detergent. Low sudsing, too.

Wayne

[Ed Harrow]

And perhaps, unlike TSP, low in phosphates. We (work) use alchonox to remove cutting oils and the like from what will be high-vacuum pump internals.

Use oil dry for the worst of it.

[ken mcclure]

The dishwasher stuff often has ammonia, so don't be surprised if it darkens the wood or changes the color of other wood in the boat.

[Wayne Jeffers]

Ken,

Thanks, I didn't know about the ammonia. Is that only in the liquid, or can it be in the powdered detergent, too? (We use Electrasol powder.)

Wayne

[drbill]

What about the stuff that West Marine sells that has a microbe that loves to eat oil? Does anybody have any experience with that product? It is called "Bilge Pro", and supposedly has an insatiable appetite for hydrocarbons.

[ken mcclure]

The powdered doesn't contain ammonia, to my knowledge.

For a fun experiment take a strip of oak about 3/4" wide, 1/8" or so thick and 12" or so long. Bevel the ends as if you are going to scarph the piece. Make both ends "bevel-up." Soak it in ammonia until it becomes pliable. Twist it and clamp the ends together. Once it dries and sets, glue the ends. You'll end up with a piece of wood that you can tell people has only one side.

Ammonia has been used for years to make wood pliable and change the color, especially oak. A lot of the mission-style furniture you see was "fumed" with ammonia gas to darken it and give it that rich, dark color.

[MESINC]

Thanks for the feedback. I used TSP years ago to clean grease off stainless. It did the trick but you had to rise the residue off.

The engine oil is definately soaded into the wood(15-20 years worth)and actually seeps/drips out of the fiberglassed bottom (over the wood). Is this going to pose a problem when I attempt to do minor repairs with fiberglass/resin?