Keep your cabin smelling fresh with products from West Marine.
Step down the companionway of a typical wet-stored boat and you will often encounter what for lack of better words we will call “that boat smell”. Typically, this smell is characterized by a disagreeable musty odor with notes of hydrocarbons and the scent of a marine sanitation system. Let’s go over some actions you can take and products you can use to eliminate or neutralize these odors for a more enjoyable boating experience.
Eliminate odors from your MSD.
If your sanitation system is equipped with old hoses, they may be suffering from odor permeation. To prevent this, consider replacing them with sanitation hose that is resistant to odor permeation. Regularly emptying your boat’s holding tank at a pump out facility and treating it with a holding tank treatment chemical will also help. We also suggest you regularly clean your marine toilet and treat it with a marine toilet chemical to keep it free of salt buildup and marine growth which can give rise to odors.
Keep your boat’s engine and bilge clean.
If your boat’s inboard engine is leaking oil (or worse fuel) into the bilge, these problems should be corrected stat. When changing oil, be sure keep oil absorbent materials at the ready to catch any spillage. Periodically cleaning your bilge with a degreaser is also a good idea—but be sure to dispose of oily water or rags at an approved oil drop-off facility.
Mitigate the growth of mold and mildew.
That musty odor we mentioned at the beginning is probably coming from mold and mildew in the boat. For visible mold and mildew on non-porous surfaces (like fiberglass gelcoat and metal surfaces) removing the mold or mildew with a bleach-based cleaner is recommended. But for hidden mold and mildew, like what exists under cabinetry or in the space between the inner fiberglass insert and outer hull, you need something that can penetrate to those locations. For this we recommend chlorine dioxide-based products such as Star brite’s Mildew Odor Control Bag and/or their NosGuard Fast or Slow Release Odor Control Systems.
Eliminate odors with tea tree oil-based products.
Tea tree oil has been shown to have natural antiseptic properties which makes it a good choice for controlling odors and inhibiting the growth of mold and mildew on boats. Along with a tree tea oil-based gel product which we sell under our own West Marine label, we also offer tea tree oil-based products manufactured by Kanberra, Star brite and Forespar. Choices include airborne mold and odor eliminators in gel, spray and aerosol form.