Henkel’s Bleich-Soda [bleaching soda], one of the first branded products in Germany, marks the beginning of the Company’s success story.

Schwarzkopf launches “Shampoon”, the first hairwashing powder on the German market. The packaging featured the now familiar Black Silhouette logo.

After numerous laboratory trials, Persil was developed. The brand name stands for the two main components: sodium perborate and sodium silicate. Persil cleaned laundry automatically, eliminating laborious rubbing by hand and the attendant wear and tear on the fabric. This innovation meant that housewives no longer had to wait for a sunny day to lay laundry out on the grass to bleach.

At the beginning of the year, the first glues are produced in the cellar of the packaging building in Holthausen to glue Henkel’s own packs: Sula (paper glue), Desula (cardboard glue), and Buba (parcel glue). For the first time, Henkel sold glue to a neighourhood company in 1923.  The products were the decorator's glue Mala and the wallpaper paste Tapa, which were both based on potato flour.

Inspired by a trip to the USA in 1928, Hugo Henkel orders research to be carried out on the cleaning of metal surfaces with sodium phosphate. The results were impressive and led to the production of the P3 cleaning agents in 1929.

Schwarzkopf launches Onalkali, the world’s first alkali-free shampoo.

Professor Vernon Krieble presents “Loctite, the liquid locknut,” promising that this adhesive would solve the problem of loose nuts and bolts in machines.

Launch of the solvent-free Pritt glue stick.

Dixan is the first phosphate-free powder laundry detergent in Germany.

Under the brand name Megaperls, the new generation of laundry detergents is launched on the market in Belgium, Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands. In Germany, Persil Megaperls appeared in 1994.

Henkel causes a sensation in the electronics industry by developing Loctite Chipbonders, a completely new generation of high-speed adhesives.

Poly Re-Nature Creme restores gray hair to its natural color.

The new flexible tile adhesive Ceresit CM 18 EasyFlex is easier to apply and easier to handle.

Bonderite NT, a nanotechnology-based process for metal pretreatment, is simpler and offers better value and better performance than the customary iron phosphating method.

In collaboration with Alessi, Henkel launches WC FreshSurfer, a toilet rimblock designed by Alessi, and demonstrates that even low-interest products can generate high consumer demand when offered in designer packaging.

With a high-performance formula with 19 active ingredients, Gliss Kur Total Repair 19 restructures the hair and protects its surface.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the day when Persil as the first self-acting detergent entered the market to revolutionize the world of laundry care. Today, Persil from Henkel is available in around 60 countries.

Terra Activ: Power and nature in a new advanced-quality line. The range encompasses an all-purpose cleaner, a hand dishwashing detergent, and WC, bath and glass cleaners. An average of 85 percent of all ingredients are derived from renewable raw materials including, for the first time, certified sustainable palm kernel oil to encourage rainforest protection.

With Essential Color, the experts from Schwarzkopf have succeeded in developing the first enduring colorant without ammonia, but with added nature-based ingredients such as lychee and white tea.

Somat Perfect Gel is particularly efficient in water- and energy saving dishwashing programs. The innovative gel formulation ensures that the detergent takes effect immediately and removes even stubborn stains in programs with temperatures as low as 40 degrees Celsius. Relative to comparable programs at 50 or 55 degrees Celsius, consumers can achieve energy savings of 20 percent on average, depending on the type of dishwasher.

Somat 10
Thanks to its “immediate-active formula,” Somat 10 dissolves faster than ever, enabling it to release its cleaning performance right from the start. Somat 10 was launched onto the German market in mid-2011.
www.somat.de