Lava (soap)
Brand of heavy duty hand cleaner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lava is a heavy-duty hand cleaner in soap bar form manufactured by the WD-40 Company. Unlike typical soap bars, Lava contains ground volcanic pumice, which gave the soap its name. The company website states that the hand cleaner removes grease, grime, paint, ink, and glue.[1]
| Product type | Soap |
|---|---|
| Owner | WD-40 Company |
| Country | St. Louis, Missouri, United States |
| Introduced | 1893 |
| Previous owners |
|
| Website | www |
Lava's long-time slogan was "Cleans the dirt, protects the skin."[2]
History
Lava soap was developed in 1893 by the William Waltke Company of St. Louis.[3]
In 1927, Procter & Gamble acquired the Lava and Oxydol brands from William Waltke Company. P&G sold the Lava brand to Block Drug in 1995. That year Lava soap had annual retail sales of $6 million, while P&G's soap brands Zest and Ivory each had annual sales of $100 million. Block stated they were a niche marketer, and Lava would fit into the sector of cleaning products[2]
The WD-40 Company acquired the brand from Block Drug in April 1999.[4]
