Thought about putting dawn soap in the bilge area of my Jon boat with a couple gallons of water. Do you think it will clean the bilge as I drive down the road to the lake? Never tried it, just wondering. Thanks

May turn into a bubble bath by the time you get there. I doubt it'll will do anything without adding a little elbow grease.

Yes, it will clean the bilge. I used to do that when I loaded up to go home from the lake. Got home drain and rinse and the bilge was spotless. But with the "clean and dry" rules, it could get you a conversation with a game warden now.

I was going to put it in on the way to the lake and then rinse it out at the carwash.

I did this in my Blazer. Filled boat with water and dawn, drove around the block a few times. It sure helped.

I get the Dish washer little packs and put 1 or 2. Less bubbles and works great.

It works great. I've done exactly that for years. Not so much anymore as i premix now. When i had oil tank in bilge area, inevitably, some oil WAS spilled while filling tank sooner or later. I put plug in, added detergent & Mean Green & about 3" of water,( dont overload as water is 8.33 lbs per gallon. About 50 gallons willl do. Drive around, stopping fairly hard. It sloshes all the way to the front. You'd be surprised at what washes out( plastics,nuts ,washers,etc etc. & all oil,grease etc.. When you pull the plug you'll need to keep unstopping the drain from all the debris that will be coming out usually. Then it'll be clean as a whistle. Maybe two or three times if it's really bad. I like the dishwasher packets idea also.

I put a bar of ivory soap in bilge. after a couple of months I just add another one.

I've also done the bar soap, put it back there no worries.

NO soap! It is not a pretty sight when it continues ot make bubbles over and over. Get a 5 gallon bucket of water and mix with bleach. Mixing ratios are on the bleach. I pour mine in at the anchor well or what ever forward hatch to the bilge you have so that it runs all the ways trough. Have the plugs in so that the bleach can sit a while and kill off any growth. After a few hours I drain it and let it dry thoroughly.