At just eight years old, David Melhorn was introduced to the car wash industry by his father, Verlyn. David helped Verlyn fill vending machines and would accompany him to Kleen-Rite for supply runs. David is now the General Manager, even though he had other plans for his life.

Choosing A Different Path

When David graduated college with a degree in Christian Youth Ministry, he decided to work for a year at the family car wash as he figured things out. Turns out, David loves the car wash industry and has been running Kleen Mist for 18 years and counting. Kleen Mist is run by three generations of the Melhorn family; Verlyn, David, and his son, Colin.

The Growth of a Family-Owned and Operated Wash

David’s grandparents bought their first car wash in 1978, with the understanding his parents would run the show. Their first wash was a pre-existing tunnel wash that had been for sale. After some time had passed, they constructed a self-serve wash next door. As their washes became more lucrative, they decided to grow the business. So, they purchased the University Car Wash in 1984. The latest wash they acquired was the Linn Town Car Wash, about two years ago. The reigns have transitioned to David, who now runs the show.

A car wash involves multiple fields, such as chemistry and mechanical knowledge. Learning everything on your own is not easy. David said, “My parents had to learn it on the fly.” Luckily, David had his father to show him the ropes since he was a young boy. His parents are both still involved at Kleen Mist and assist him with everything they can.

David’s son has developed an interest in the car wash industry. Colin is the 3rd generation of the Melhorn family who works at Kleen Mist. When schools were closed during the COVID-19 lockdowns, Colin helped David with maintenance projects. Colin is positioning himself to run Kleen Mist when David decides to retire.

Kleen Pass Creates Loyal Customers

During our visit, we noticed advertisements promoting their membership plan Kleen Pass. We asked David how the program was performing. David said, “It’s doing well; it grows consistently.” He informed us that it was implemented in 2010 and is successful in the tunnel wash and self-serve bays. However, the in-bay market is harder to grow.

Kleen Pass has three competitively priced options to deliver the best value for customers. When a customer joins, a sticker is stuck on their windshield. This sticker acts like an E-ZPass identifying each customer and activates the wash corresponding to their membership plan. New Kleen Pass members receive a token, allotting them 10 minutes of free vacuum time. The unlimited wash program helps Kleen Mist create a strong base of customers who use the wash regularly.

Keeping People Happy

Regular customers are the bread and butter of a business. After all, it costs much more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain a current one. One step Kleen Mist takes is to make sure all equipment functions properly. When maintaining a self-serve bay rotary switch, David said, “All ten functions should work the way they are supposed to.” When everything works, customers will not get frustrated.

David said, “We always double refund. We do the full refund and a free wash for next time.” Refunding customers keeps them happy and entices them to come back.

Advertising Kleen Mist

We asked David how they advertise Kleen Mist. David answered, “We do a lot through Facebook.” He mentioned sponsoring high-school sports through placing advertisements and coupons in the ticket books, which helps them reach new customers in multiple demographics and generations. After all, everyone needs to wash their car. Finally, David told us that word of mouth brings them a lot of traffic too.

Supply Chain and Shortages

Unfortunately, the COVID 19 lockdowns upended every industry, causing supply chain problems everywhere. David mentioned they order stock in advance, so components are on the shelf should something go down. During our interview, David said he wants spare parts for anything that can potentially shut them down. If something breaks the wash might not be able to operate until the part is replaced.

Keeping the right parts on hand will get your wash back up and running quickly. With a crippled supply chain, David said, “We have to order things earlier than we normally would.” Keeping a stock of replacement parts on hand means Kleen Mist does not have to track down critical components in a broken supply chain.

A Kleen-Rite Customer, 40 Years and Counting

Since 1978, the Melhorn family has been a Kleen-Rite customer. Verlyn and David both remember driving down to Kleen-Rite when we were still located on Cherry Street to pick up supplies. Verlyn adds that “Harold was always there to help out.” During our discussion with Verlyn, he told us that Mike met him outside the Harrisburg airport with a pump Kleen Mist needed. At the end of our interview, Verlyn stated, “I don’t price shop. I know Kleen-Rite is going to give me the best deal.”

We are grateful that Verlyn and David have been loyal customers for 40 years and look forward to serving Colin when it is his turn to run the show. We hope to see Kleen Mist continue to grow!

This article was originally published in Kleen-Scene 38.

Check out our previous operator spotlight with Craig Off from Ocean and Off Shore Car Wash.