Product type Soap Website www.lavasoap.com | Owner WD-40 Company | |
Country St. Louis, Missouri, United States Introduced 1927; 90 years ago (1927) Previous owners Waltke Company (1927-?)
Procter & Gamble (?-1995)
Block Drug (1995-1999) | ||
Lava is a heavy-duty hand cleaner, originally produced in soap bar form, developed by the Waltke Company of St. Louis in 1893.
It is currently manufactured by the WD-40 Company, who acquired the brand from Block Drug in 1999, who acquired it from Procter & Gamble in 1995. Unlike typical hand soaps, Lava contains ground pumice, which gave the soap its name. The soap and pumice combination is intended to scour tar, engine grease, paint, dirt, grime, filth, and similar substances from the skin.
Lava soap is currently available in three forms, a red wrapper bar 5.75 ounces (163 g), a bulk count industrial green wrapper bar 4 ounces (110 g), and a liquid form (7.5 oz. pump bottle). The liquid form also contains moisturizers and recently the bar form added moisturizers into its formulation as well. The original Lava (without moisturizers), which was a beige bar, is no longer manufactured.