Harbor Freight Stinks

[dkroth]

No, really. Harbor Freight actually stinks.

Every time I go to my local HF I walk in the door and there is a powerful, distinctive smell to the place. Sometimes I can even smell it from the sidewalk.

Does your Harbor Freight Stink?

What is it? Solvent from all that orange paint drying? Chemicals out-gassing of all those tarps? Binding agent from all the cheap cardboard packing?

 

[Hiball]

Yes.. There is a Distinctive Odor, Ive been in a couple different stores and its the same Odor.

Think about it this way... IF there willing to paint our childrens toys with Lead Paint, What do you think there doing with our Tools and Free Flashlights?

=

 

[MrMark]

I am allergic to Harbor Freight and have never been in there and that is not going to change as nothing good could come of it but I have heard from at least THREE people, you being the FOURTH, that Harbor Freight, indeed stinks. I have further heard that the stink will get on your clothes and will not come out for days.

Others have told me that the stink comes from the floor tiles or the products themselves that outgass. You can only imagine the stuff that goes on in those China factories that produce the stuff.

My advice: if you want to avoid stinking, avoid Harbor Frieght. If not, both you are your tools will stink.

 

[Bolster]

Yep, my local HF stinks. I always thought it was the customers, but maybe it's the plastic in the tools?

 

[eborcim]

An co-worker is from China and loves to go in that store b/c it reminds him of home..

Maybe the local air quality boards should be called for interior air pollution. They've outlawed cigs in out town, why not stinky *** stores?

 

[Hiball]

An co-worker is from China and loves to go in that store b/c it reminds him of home..

Maybe the local air quality boards should be called for interior air pollution. They've outlawed cigs in out town, why not stinky *** stores?

That Columbia Store is Pure Funk..

 

[harryhood]

I smell I notice in all the harbor freight stores is that cheap rubber smell

 

[A1an]

Went in there with my wife this weekend and she commented on the foul odor. Smells like machine oil and body odor.

 

[chevelle67]

The store in Appleton, WI. also stinks. They have some knockoff dog bone creepers that are solid plastic and the smell is so intense it gave me a headache.

 

[nikonica]

It's kind of a rubber smell, maybe. It could be ozone from cheap power tools. I notice it on other Chinese shop equipment too, when you remove it from the box. Whenever I think of Harbor Freight one of the most powerful, subconscious memories is the smell - it's as if I was actually in their store.

I think the odor is a combination of rubber (mallets, soft-grip tools, plier grips, etc.) and the brown "yak grease" that they smear on machined surfaces as a substitute for Cosmolene.

With the exception of some 1/2"-drive six-point sockets (which really aren't bad tools at all) I don't think I've purchased anything there, but once in awhile I pay a visit just to witness the spectacle that it is. Free flashlights. Air tools for $3.00. Wrench sets for $8.00. Seriously? Is that how greedy/cheap we have become? The people who work there are friendly and nobody is trying to hide that their stuff is cheap, so I can't really hold anything against them.

 

[fflintstone]

I have not noticed it in the store, however I have noticed a mild odor unpacking some Chinese items, the smell is the same, regardless of item. Even get the odor unpacking AK47’s.

 

[harryhood]

If you want to get the full smell effect go take a whiff of a rubber wheel in HF. You'll get the smell full on.

 

[Lump]

+1 on the rubber smell. You can smell that same stench on kid's bicycles at WalMart, or wherever. It's whatever solvent they use on "rubber tire" production. Check out cheap two-wheel furniture dollys, lawn tractor tires, etc. That same smell is there. I posted on Garage Journal about this same subject months ago. I would like to know exactly what that chemical is, and why we don't smell it on US-made rubber products. Is it a chemical which the EPA has banned in the US, maybe? Is it something toxic, which we should worry about? My concern isn't for my shop tools...but for my grandkids bikes and riding toys.

 

[Zebu Fellenz]

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who noticed the smell. I've been in a HF exactly one time and will probably never go back to one, I don't care if some things are a great bargain, I simply cannot stand the smell.

 

[kc-steve]

Yep, my local HF stinks. I always thought it was the customers, but maybe it's the plastic in the tools?

Yup, I think you are right. After bringing home some power tools like sanders, I noticed the odor in my home.

Steve

 

[MrMark]

Great.

Go to Harbor Freight and now you, your tools, and your house will stink.

 

[djb2]

I'm also curious about what chemical process causes the smell.

I don't associate it with H-F specially. The same smell is on many Chinese rubber products, but rarely on products from other countries. (And I suspect the CoO label when I do smell it elsewhere.)

You can pick up the smell at almost any hardware or home improvement store, just not as concentrated.

 

[strnjss]

Anytime I handle a HF tool, my hands smell like machine oil all day even after washing them. I've never understood why cheap tools are always covered in machine oil. I mean even the free screwdrivers I just got from them smell of it!

 

[mrholeshot]

Bunch of whimps, Once you get past the smell you can have a good time

 

[kab00m]

Bunch of whimps, Once you get past the smell you can have a good time

Do I really, really need this? Ah, what the hell. It's only .99 cents.

 

[drmarkr]

Jap motorcycles are coated in an oil film to prevent rust. I'm betting this is why they're coated in the machine oil to get here form china.

And yes, our local store smells exactly the same. ANY store with a lot of chinese imports does.

 

[Theloniousmonk]

my store still smells like mothballs - used to be a fabric store in the location.

alot of the "oem" replacement parts for some of the cars I work on are now coming from china, via german manufacturers (box says "Germany" and part is stamped "China) - the rubber parts (control arms w/ bushings, etc...) stink like a skunk took a dump on them.

 

[Danglerb]

Some of my favorite places smell pretty bad.

 

[kc-steve]

Some of my favorite places smell pretty bad.

Nawww, smells of "favorite places" are called aromas.

Steve

 

[johnnybentwrench]

yep, stinks in torrance CA too. also very ****** tools BTW. what is the appeal man the place is filled with **** maybe that's why it smells?

I am with the guy that says it's the chinese buffet to avoid!

 

[PassnThru]

Bunch of whimps, Once you get past the smell you can have a good time

Do I really, really need this? Ah, what the hell. It's only .99 cents.

I don't think you fully understood mrholeshot on that one - read it again a little slower. Oh wait - you mentioned .99 cents so maybe you do. Yeah - if you're getting it for .99 cents then yeah, it will probably really stink

 

[Jack Olsen]

I think it's more than just the rubber outgassing. I have a hydraulic table with hard casters and I've been keeping it outside because of the smell. I'd guess they use some rust-preventative spray (or grease? or paint?) for the trip over that releases that smell.

It's not really a reason to bash Harbor Freight. Tools aren't known for their sweet fragrances. (I love my Swepco transmission fluid, but that doesn't mean it doesn't stink.)

I just bought a big set of PB Swiss screwdrivers, and the handles smell like vomit. I only noticed because I read about the smell online -- you've got to sniff a screwdriver to detect it -- it was my first and last screwdriver sniffing. So even the 'classy' stuff can carry a smell.

 

[NWphotog]

Bunch of whimps, Once you get past the smell you can have a good time

LOL!

 

[great white tj]

Thats the smell of Money............

 

[ajchien]

Oh great. Now I have to pay attention to the smell the next time I walk into a HF....

 

[bsaint]

I think its plastics and cosmoline.

 

[Bolster]

It's not really a reason to bash Harbor Freight. Tools aren't known for their sweet fragrances. (I love my Swepco transmission fluid, but that doesn't mean it doesn't stink.)

I just bought a big set of PB Swiss screwdrivers, and the handles smell like vomit. I only noticed because I read about the smell online -- you've got to sniff a screwdriver to detect it -- it was my first and last screwdriver sniffing. So even the 'classy' stuff can carry a smell.

LOL! Too funny!! You're using an "olfactory equivalence" argument to defend HarF! Your post had me running to my tool box, where I sniffed every screwdriver handle. My wife caught me and said "what the HECK are you doing?" I tried to explain but she left in the middle of my explanation.

So here are my results:

-PB Swiss smell like a hard cheese.
-Wiha insulated smell like honey.
-Williams screwdrivers smell a little like a berry-flavored snowcone.
-Snap-on, a nutty-cheese, or possibly a cheesy nut, with hints of cola.
-Felo wood handles smell predominantly oak, with overtones of hazelnut, coffee, and plumb.
-Craftsman have a somewhat desperate smell.

Taste tests to follow, stay tuned...

 

[bsaint]

PB Blaster - now that stuff smells good. But thats a chemical.

 

[Cryptic1911]

To quote someone from another thread:

Ummm because its not brand new high quality rubber its a bunch of scrap shoes condoms **** plugs and whatever else they can find melted in to one big ball of toxic ****.

It does stink pretty bad in there, but I read that natural rubber has a nasty odor to it too, so its probably a combo of that and some toxic mold release they use

 

[stricht8]

Went in there with my wife this weekend and she commented on the foul odor. Smells like machine oil and body odor.

Yes. Cheap rubber smell. My GF hates going in with me first because she claims it's boring and second because it stinks like rubber.

 

[comedyman809]

its the smell of **** tools!

 

[american lockpicker]

The True Value, Sears, Do It Best, Lowes, or the smaller mom & pop shops I go to to buy US and EU made tools don't have this problem.

 

[Lump]

Yes, as someone said earlier, you do get that smell anywhere that lots of Chinese rubber products are sold. But I have been around antique cars all my life, and have opened old red rubber inner tubes which were sealed in old packages long ago. These were "real" rubber, and made great sling shots (unlike modern inner tubes from the 60's onward). They had a "rubber" smell, but nothing like that unique smell of Chinese "rubber" products. I just wonder what that chemical is, that's all.

 

[Bolster]

Seriously funny thread on the same topic...

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=951544#post951544

 

[Cheapskate]

I no longer notice the smell. Probably because I own so much Harbor Freight stuff my house smells the same way.

I think it's from the rubber and vinyl products. I picked up a few of these vinyl duffel bags , they arrived on a 95 degree day and the pungent chemical smell emanating from them literally made me sick. I put them outside and still haven't brought them in.