Can you get some soapy water up below the floor pan and hull? Maybe a pressure washer with soap attachment on low pressure?

Take the cushions home for a shampoo and good airing out.

Then, fresh air and sunshine are your best friend. Get everything open and run fans for as long as you can.

Good luck (coming from the guy who just pumped out and scrubbed his fuel tank. I came home smelling like the inside of a WWII submarine

 

On a previous boat, a small leak in the fuel tank went unnoticed during the survey, and within a few months became a large leak, emptying the whole tank into the bilge. We were away from the boat, so it sat that way for some time -- probably at least a week. (Luckily, there was no automatic bilge pump, so it stayed contained in the boat.)

After a good scrubbing, the smell was still unbearable. I was pretty sure the cushions were a lost cause. I saw Peggy Hall (known for her holding tank expertise) recommending PureAyre as capable of eliminating any smell including diesel. Ordered a gallon (or maybe it was two) and a garden sprayer and soaked the whole boat (especially the cushions). Smelled of an awful mix of diesel and mint for a few days while it dried out, and then all the smell was gone.

 

stop at your local hvac supply house they sell or can get you what you need to kill the smell. oil burner mechanics keep the stuff on their trucks.

 

After we suffered a similar problem, a friend recommended we flood the bilge with a few gallons of Lemon Juice concentrate, available at most wholesale food vendors quite inexpensively, mixed with warm/hot water. Ten gallons later, left Left over night and then pumped out and a fresh water rinse following, the stench was gone. If, however, the cushions have absorbed a fair amount of the fumes, they'll need be treated separately as previously suggested (fortunately we did not have that problem)

 

Diesel stench? WTF? I love the smell of diesel, it reminds me of my boat. I always thought diesel and cigar smoke made the ultimate masculine cologne. This might explain my luck with women.

 

I'm with you on this one! The smell of diesel has been the smell of safety and security for me since I was 12 years old, sleeping on the floor of a salmon troller, directly above the 6-71.
I have always had good results with dish liquid soap and plenty of water to rinse, but now a days it's probably not the best thing to do. I have no idea of how to rinse out bilges sufficiently, without pumping the water overboard. You can't exactly put it in buckets and dump it around where you keep the boat, and the used oil points would probably not appreciate the fuel oil/soap/water mixture.

 

Dawn in a bucket of warm water and a brush or sponge do a good job of eliminating diesel residue and odors from the bilge.

Getting the smell out of your cushions is the tough part.

 

Diesel smells like my younger days when I was a drill stem tester (glorified roughneck) on drilling rigs in Wyoming I'd be covered head to toe in diesel based drilling mud but I was young and stronger than ever before or since. My truck smelled of diesel then as did all my clothing. A diesel engine running too rich can bring back memories of helping to "trip out" of the hole as the rigs engine ran hard to take up the load of 15000' of drill pipe.

 

Hello friends!

The valve that controls flow from the diesel tank to the motor leaked during the delivery of my boat to the marina. I took out all of the diesel that was on the bilge.

What do you recommend to remove the diesel smell / stench from the cabin?

Thanks!

A.D.

Wipe down all the "hard" surfaces with dish soap and water; wash all the cushions, covers, curtains (anything fabric or foam) in warm dish soapy water; re-oil all the oiled teak (if you have it). That should get rid of the lion's share of the smell, if not all of it. Washing fabrics and foam seems to be something that a lot of people overlook -- and seems to often make an amazing difference.

However, if all else fails, cook a couple of fish curry dinners, and fry up a mess of bacon for breakfast.

 

disconnect the vent hose from the holding tank and leave it for a few days....
Diesel will smell sweet after you reconnect.

 

Simple Green is an enzyme cleaner and works great on oils. It can be hard on rubber so i don't let it sit on hoses and belts too long. Some object to the odor but it smells like clean to me.