Renuzit
| Product type | Air freshener |
|---|---|
| Owner | Henkel Corporation |
| Country | United States |
| Markets | United States |
| Previous owners | Drackett (1969-1993) |
| Website | http://www.renuzit.com |
Renuzit is a brand of air fresheners produced by Henkel North American Consumer Goods. The Renuzit brand once included a solvent-based spot remover and cleaner as well.
History
Renuzit cleaning fluid was originally produced by the Radbill Oil Co. of Philadelphia in 1932, which became Renuzit Home Products Company before 1947. The company was acquired by Drackett in 1969, which had been bought by Bristol-Myers in 1965, which in turn, merged with Squibb in 1989.
In 1992, Bristol-Myers Squibb sold Drackett to S. C. Johnson & Son, at which point, the Federal Trade Commission ordered S.C. Johnson to divest itself of Renuzit and certain other products within a year, and not purchase any other company making air fresheners for 10 years. The following year, S.C. Johnson sold Renuzit to The Dial Corporation.[1] In 2004, Dial became a subsidiary of Henkel.[2]
Products
Renuzit's aerosol product was a me-too product. Their solid air freshener, however, was packaged in an attractive extruded plastic cone. This may have worked against Renuzit sales. As the gelatin dries out, the light vacuum-formed shell of a Glade solid air freshener would lose most of its weight, and get discarded. It is not so obvious that the Renuzit freshener is also depleted. More recently, air fresheners have used heat-based convection and even small fans to disperse the fragrance.
Renuzit introduced a popular fragrance in 1972 called Super Odor Killer. The fragrance was not readily identifiable because it used a blend of perfumes left over when fragrance manufacturers produced a little too much for another company's orders. This blend was not only good at masking a variety of odors, it could be used at slightly higher fragrance levels without overwhelming the user. Renuzit was also the first to introduce an air freshener for the kitchen when they brought out "Country Kitchen" cinnamon fragrance in 1979. It proved to be highly popular and was soon copied by competitors.
Renuzit offered a cleaning solvent at one time, sold in 4-ounce steel dispenser cans similar to those used for multipurpose household oil, and in steel quart and gallon cans similar to those used for paint thinner. It was apparently a dry-cleaning fluid, believed to be Benzine based and excellent for all colorfast objects and most, if not all, plastics. It was/is a good selection to remove the sticky adhesive left behind by older labels. In 1972, a gallon retailed for approximately $2.49. At that time, the label indicated that the Drackett Products Co. was the USA distributor. Manufacture of the product appears to have been discontinued in the early 1960s.
Urban legend
According to urban legend, the label on a 1995, can of Renuzit air freshener included a deliberately planted phallic image. In March 1995, Dial introduced a new label for the Fresh Cut Flowers fragrance of their aerosol air freshener. Within a couple of months, both Dial and retailers started receiving complaints about a phallus that appeared on the can. In fact, the image was that of a tulip stem, which was readily apparent when looking at the same image on the Renuzit LongLast Roommate air freshener.
Dial switched to another photo for subsequent production.
References
- ↑ "Dial to acquire Renuzit air freshener business". United Press International. 11 February 1993. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ↑ Neff, Jack (15 December 2003). "Henkel acquires Dial Corp for $2.9 billion". Ad Age. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- "Clearing the Air About a Label" by Henry Gilgoff in the June 9, 1995 Newsday.