Has anyone had Kleen Rite Soap issues?

[Lifeofbaha]

Back in May, I ordered several Kleen-Rite soaps to test at my self-serve wash, including the Kleen White Tire and Wheel Cleaner – Kleen-Rite Self-Serve Ultra-Concentrate.

At first, I was very pleased with the product. For about the first month and a half, it had a strong minty scent, worked well, and I was overall happy with the results. Over time, the scent faded, which wasn’t an issue since the cleaning performance remained consistent.

However, in August I noticed a strange odor coming from my control room. At first, I couldn’t pinpoint the source, but over the past two weeks the entire property began smelling strongly of sulfur—an extremely unpleasant, putrid odor. Eventually, I traced it back to the tire and wheel cleaner.
I removed the product, cleaned out my tank, and sealed the jug in storage. Within a few days, the smell around the property noticeably improved.
I’ve reached out to Kleen-Rite via email regarding the issue but haven’t received a response yet. I’m curious if anyone else has experienced something similar with this product.

 

[Keno]

We've used a good amount of this product over the last few years and haven't had that issue, could be contamination or a bad batch or something else. Our scent has never noticeably faded either with that product. Hopefully they'll take care of it. How much do you have left? I would hope not much if that container is the same you opened in May?

 

[Cwajciec]

I wonder if you have another chemical or something else backfeeding into the tire cleaner mix tank, causing the reaction? I have the same tire cleaner and no issues like that. I have had a scum issue but now I mix it with an alkaline powder and the problem goes away.

 

[Lifeofbaha]

We've used a good amount of this product over the last few years and haven't had that issue, could be contamination or a bad batch or something else. Our scent has never noticeably faded either with that product. Hopefully they'll take care of it. How much do you have left? I would hope not much if that container is the same you opened in May?

I have one more un opened from them and just the 5 gallon I had mixed in that drum

 

[Lifeofbaha]

I wonder if you have another chemical or something else backfeeding into the tire cleaner mix tank, causing the reaction? I have the same tire cleaner and no issues like that. I have had a scum issue but now I mix it with an alkaline powder and the problem goes away.

I doubt anything backed up into the tank, but I did notice a significant amount of scum buildup inside. What stood out is that it wasn’t just the tank — the actual drum of soap itself had the same horrible odor.


What I find odd is that this only started happening about three months after I first began using the product. Even if there was some leftover chemical in the tank, I thought I did a thorough job of washing everything out.

 

[Keno]

I have one more un opened from them and just the 5 gallon I had mixed in that drum

You're not supposed to premix the tire cleaner, it goes straight to the hydrominder.

 

[Lifeofbaha]

You're not supposed to premix the tire cleaner, it goes straight to the hydrominder.

I realized that after I see on the website it says as follows

• Green Foam
• Spearmint Scented
• Final Dilution: 60-90/1
• Can use straight or add water
• Use Blue or Tan Metering Tip

it was working great and cleaned good too with the tip i had on

 

[Lifeofbaha]

I just heard back from Kleen-Rite, and they confirmed that about two weeks ago someone else reported a similar issue with the tire cleaner developing a strong sulfur-like smell. So, it looks like this may have been a bad or “rotten” batch rather than an isolated problem on my end. They took care of everything 100%

 

[Randy]

That strong sulfur-like smell is probably Hydrogen sulfide, it put off the foul odor of rotten eggs or a sulfur smell.