Ivory () is an American flagship personal care brand created by the Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), including varieties of white and mildly scented bar soap that became famous for its claim of purity and for floating on water. Over the years, the brand has been extended to other varieties and products.

History

thumb|Ivory Soap, 1800s

In 1840, the J.B. Williams Company in Glastonbury, Connecticut, manufactured soap under the name Ivorine. Williams decided to focus on its shaving soap and sold Ivorine to Procter & Gamble, which later developed Ivory.

thumb|[[World War I|WWI era Magazine ad illustrating the advantage of floating soap]]

In 1879, James Norris Gamble, son of Procter & Gamble co-founder James Gamble and a trained chemist, developed an inexpensive white soap. The name Ivory was chosen by Harley Procter, the other founder's son, who was inspired by the quote "[a]ll thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces", from Psalm 45 of the Bible. In September 1879, Procter & Gamble trademarked "Ivory" as the name of its new soap product.

thumb|Ivory Soap

As Ivory is one of P&G's oldest products – it was first sold in 1879 – P&G is sometimes called "Ivory Towers", and its factory and research center in St. Bernard, Ohio, is nicknamed "Ivorydale".

Ivory dishwashing liquid contains water, sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium laureth sulfate, alkyl dimethyl amine oxide, sodium chloride, PPG-26, cyclohexanediamine, phenoxyethanol, methylisothiazolinone, and fragrance. It is sometimes considered a detergent instead of a soap.

New varieties of Ivory soap contain new ingredients. Simply Ivory (French: simplement ivory) contains sodium tallowate and/or sodium palmate, water, sodium cocoate or sodium palm kernelate, glycerin, sodium chloride, fragrance, and one or more of the following: coconut acid, palm kernel acid, tallow acid, palmitic acid, and tetrasodium EDTA. Adding glycerol and fatty acids typically reduces the soap's harshness, while tetrasodium EDTA is used primarily to reduce soap scum formation. Ivory soap packaging has omitted the words "soap" or "float", and is now produced with modified formulas; Ivory soap no longer floats.

See also

  • Operation Ivory Soap, named after the product
  • Sunlight, cleaning product

References

  • Ivory Products Home Page