Odor removal on a Tracker PT175

[mjfrank]

I guess this topic belongs in a cleaning and detailing forum, but I couldn't find one. I guess it is sort of a restoration. Anyway, I'm just getting my boat out after over three years in storage in a barn at my farm. I tried as best as I could to varmint-proof the thing, but after three years of neglect, they moved in. It looks like every raccoon and mouse for three counties decided to take a dump in my boat. Thankfully it looks like they didn't eat anything, the seat and carpet don't appear to be damaged. The problem is the horrible urine and other unpleasant smells that are left.

I've sprayed it this morning with a mixture of water, bleach, and an industrial anti-microbial called ODO-Ban. I am planning to drag it up to the U-Squirt-Em wash tonight, and try to blast everything out of there with the high-pressure hose.

What I'm wondering is, are there any soap/disinfectant/shampoo/odor killer/etc that anyone can recommend that works well on boats. How about techniques? I'm thinking I might need to try to fill the bottom of the boat with water to try to flush out any unpleasant critters stuck in the flotation? I don't know any other way to do that without tearing the interior out.

Thanks for any advice you can give.
--Mike

[onemorecast56]

well i`m restoring a tx-17 and watch filling your bottom up with water. The foam well suck it up like a sponge. All the foamm in this one was water logged and weighted a ton. once it gets wet it`ll stay wet, it can`t get any air to dry it out. But I was a carpet installer for 30 yrs, try useing fribreeze for pets oders and really the best thing to do is to just set it out in the sun and let her air out.

[mjfrank]

No kidding, I wasn't aware that the foam was absorbent. I'll be careful with that then, hopefully just washing out the bilge won't cause too much of a problem.

I guess eventually I'll need to replace the carpet, but I was hoping to at least get it usable right now, as my boys are finally interested in fishing. As it is, you can't get within three feet of it without gagging.

I was thinking of spraying the carpet with a vinegar/water mixture before I pressure wash it. Would that also help with the odor? I have a ton of Febreeze, so I guess I could try that, but for some reason I've never been fond of the smell of that either. Better than mouse urine I guess though.

Thanks!
--Mike

[basshole45]

oxyclean and a steam cleaner