Owner The Clorox Company Introduced 1933 | Country United States Website clorox.com/lestoil | |
Product type Heavy Duty Multi-Purpose Cleanser Previous owners Procter & Gamble Co., Noxell | ||
Lestoil is a registered trade name of Clorox for a heavy-duty multi-purpose cleanser product, used to remove extremely difficult laundry stains, dissolve water-based and oil-based paints, and clean grease, oil, paint, and adhesives from floors and surfaces.
Contents
It was introduced as a dry cleaning fluid for laundry in 1933.
Formula
As of 2015, the safety data sheet for Lestoil lists: Tall oil fatty acids, sodium salts 5 - 10%, Stoddard solvent 3 - 7%, Pine oil 1 - 5%, Sodium hydroxide < 1%
History
In 1927, a Harvard alumnus, Jacob L. Barowsky, worked at the General Cleaners and Dyers in Holyoke, Massachusetts, where he saw the need for a single product that removed both water-soluble and non-water-soluble soils from laundry. Jacob started the Adell Chemical Company to solve the problem, and with the assistance of chemist John Tulenko, they introduced LAVOL to the world in 1933 (renamed to LesToil in 1936).
Initially, LesToil was used by commercial laundries, but it was also used to remove ink, wax, oil, grease and adhesives by paper mills during production. After 11 years of pressure to enter the retail market, Barowsky started using industrial profits to fund marketing efforts. Finally, in the 1950s, his TV commercials succeeded in making Lestoil a household word. The product was now used in 80% of the homes in which it was made available.
Barowsky sold the company in 1960 for $12 million to Standard International Corp. They sold it to Noxell Company, which became a subsidiary of Procter & Gamble Company.
On June 21, 1996, Noxell sold the Lestoil cleaner brand to Clorox Company, so that Noxell could focus on the Max Factor and Cover Girl lines. Noxell claimed that 99% of their business had become cosmetics and fragrances and that cleaners had no strategic fit in their company.
As of 2014, regional marketing has left brand recognition of Lestoil to primarily a midwest/eastcoast American and Puerto Rican audience. As such, large distributors like Walmart only stock it in regions where it was advertised.