Harpic

Harpic is the brand name of a toilet bowl cleaner launched in the United Kingdom in the 1920s by Reckitt Benckiser. It is currently available in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas. The toilet cleaning products marketed under the brand name include liquids, tablets, wipes, brush systems, toilet bowl and cistern blocks.

It contains hydrochloric acid (10%) as the active ingredient,[1] along with butyl oleylamine and others in an aqueous solution.

History

The original toilet cleaner was invented by Harry Pickup (hence the origin of the name Harpic[2]), who was based in Roscoe Street, Scarborough, in North Yorkshire. He also invented Oxypic, which was a sealant used in cast iron heating systems, and patented the Lock & Lift circular manhole covers, which were used initially by the British Military. The company also produced the steel components used on the Mulberry harbours, for the D-day landings.

Advertising

UK advertisements from the 1930s onwards used the slogan Cleans Round The Bend (for this reason the name is occasionally used as slang for crazy- George Macdonald Fraser uses this sense in his autobiographical "Quartered Safe Out Here" when talking about an idiosyncratic British officer commanding an irregular unit ). The Harpic Send for the Experts (2008) advert featured Tom Reynolds.

Products

This is the Harpic product range as of 2010:

  • Harpic Bathroom Cleaner
  • Harpic Power Plus
  • Harpic Max Rim Block
  • Harpic Hygienic
  • Harpic All in 1
  • Harpic Active Fresh Toilet Cleaner
  • Harpic 100% Limescale Remover Toilet Cleaner
  • Harpic Flushmatic

References
  1. "Chemistry in your cupboard: Harpic". www.rsc.org. Royal Society of Chemistry.
  2. "Scarborough connection with famous cleaning products". The Scarborough News.

Ingredients: Hydrochloric acid, Hydroxyethyl oleylamine, Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, Ammonium chloride, Methyl salicylate, Butylated hydroxytoluene, Acid Blue 25, Acid red 88, Deionized Water

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