Woolite + water smell

[brettka7]

I've done my personal car with a Woolite & water mixture at different strengths because A. It's cheap and B. It really does a great job cleaning things. I always rinse with water after my Woolite mixture and then top interiors with 303.

Has as anyone experienced an unpleasant smell with this stuff? Woolite in general doesn't smell bad but every car I've used it on, even if it is just plastic and leather, smells really bad for a few days and then develops sort of a "new car" smell when it all gasses off. I thought it may have just been me, but I did my aunt's Mini Cooper (first detail since 2008. Yes, really.) when she gave it to my cousin for a high school graduation and she's complaining about the smell too (the detail was completed 3 days ago.)

 

[FUNX650]

IMO:
The odor you are smelling is from the residue
left behind from the Woolite/Water solution.

I located the below post regarding why
Woolite is not a good choice for
cleaning automotive interiors:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Woolite is not made for automotive surfaces.
Woolite is designed to clean fabrics and
be flushed away with water...not to
be used on plastics, vinyl and rubber...and then
just be wiped off".

"Spoke with two reps from Woolite(Reckitt Benckiser)
as well as their Supervisor and asked them specifically
about cleaning car interior parts with woolite".

Their response was that it offered the two problems.

"To fully remove the soap requires a large volume of
water to flush it away...simply wiping off would leave
a large amount of residue behind that could attract
more dirt.
The second problem they alluded to was that Woolite
was never intended to clean materials other then fabric
so they have never tested it as such".

"When specifically asked about recommendation for
using Woolite to clean leather, both representatives were
dumbfounded, stating that the Woolite has never, and
never will, recommend their product for cleaning leather".
______________________________________________

"Followed this Woolite question up with highly regarded
leather expert Roger Koh. When shown the MSDS sheet
on Woolite, Roger was shocked that anybody would use
this product on leather surfaces, stating that...pH Value:

The pH value indicated is 8.
The pH neutral of average leathers is 3 - 5.
Assuming the pH neutral of leather is 4, then this product
at pH 8 is 10,000 times more alkaline than the average
pH of leather".

"The continue use of this product will cause the leather
constituents like tanning agent, fatliquor to break bond
(hydrogen bonding with the protein fibers), thus
denaturing the leather. The perforated and needle holes
will crack as the leather weakens through continuous
alkaline exposure combine with physical stresses and flexes".

"Uneven application of alkaline cleaning products may
results in streaks or brightening effect.
Most leather finishes will also turns tackiness on continuous
use and can be detected by wet finger testing".
_________________________________________________

MSDS for Woolite:
http://msds.reckittprofessional.com/...t/003291_r.pdf

Source: Autopia Forum

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hope this helps.


Bob

 

[GSKR]

Wow 8 great info.saw numerous people on this site using woolite years ago,it was the go to product of many detailers.I was convinced and went out of my way to get it,only to be disappointed.Great info with a solid backing.

 

[David Fermani]

I'd discontinue using it all together. There's much better, affordable options to clean your car without having the fear of causing an odor. I do find it strange that even after a water wipe down that you're experiencing an unpleasant odor? I've never had any issues. Could this be coming from residual dirt that has gotten wet and not allowed to adequately dry? Are you using it on fabrics? And if so, how? I'd do a few more water flushes and see what happens. Let me know if you'd like an product recommendations?