Fels-Naptha

Fels-Naptha is an American brand of laundry soap manufactured by Summit Brands.

Invented in 1893 by Fels and Company, it originally included the ingredient naphtha, effective for cleaning laundry and removing urushiol (an oil contained in poison ivy).

The original Fels-Naptha was developed around 1894 by Fels & Company of Philadelphia, a Philadelphia-based company. Its predecessor Fels & Company, was established by Lazarus Fels and son Abraham in 1866 in Baltimore, Maryland, but unexpectedly failed after some period of success.

The Fels family moved to Philadelphia, where another of Lazarus' sons, Joseph, started the new firm and incorporated in 1914. Joseph's younger brother Samuel Simeon Fels was the new company's first president and held that position until he died in 1950.

In the early 20th century, the company prospered based on sales of Fels-Naptha. Both Joseph and Samuel used their new wealth for philanthropy.^{[citation needed]}

In 1964, the company was sold to Purex Corporation for $5 million. The Greyhound Corporation acquired the consumer products business of Purex (which included Fels-Naptha) in 1985 and was combined with Greyhound's Armour-Dial division, forming The Dial Corporation.

In December 2003, Dial was sold to Henkel for $2.9 billion. In September 2022, Summit Brands acquired Fels-Naptha from Henkel.

The soap comes packaged in paper similar to bar body soap and is most often found in the laundry section of a supermarket or grocery store. It is intended for the pre-treatment of stains by rubbing the dampened product on a soiled area prior to laundering. The manufacturer claims it to be most effective in removing chocolate, baby formula, perspiration, and make-up.