While working out in the remote Alaskan bush in the early 1950s, a plumber named Steve Henson had a lot of free time on his hands. It was during this time that he invented the recipe that would become known later as ranch dressing. It gets its name from the fact that Hansen and his wife opened up a dude ranch near Santa Barbara, California after moving back from Alaska. The name of the ranch, called Hidden Valley Ranch, would later become incorporated as a food company. The brand was eventually purchased in 1972 by Clorox for $8 million. Since 1992, ranch dressing has been the most popular dressing sold in the world today.
Henson might have made his profits from the development of Hidden Valley Ranch, but the Clorox Company has been responsible for a number of product innovations over the years. Let’s take a look at the work of this company.
1. Smart Tube Technology
How many times have you had a spray bottle stop working for you, even though there was still plenty of fluid at the bottom of the container? This is a common problem that has plagued the original design of the spray bottle since its invention. If you tilt the bottle one way or the other, you wind up with air in the nozzle and a lot of leftover liquid in the bottom of the bottle. Clorox has invented smart to technology that helps to get the remaining liquid out of a spray bottle thanks to an improved flexible design.
2. Thick Bleach
Liquid bleach is a useful tool in killing germs and creating whiter clothing. When you put bleach into a load of whites, you can eliminate a lot of the dirty dinginess that can develop on the fabrics. To help target specific stains, Clorox developed a formula of thicker bleach that was more of a gel than a liquid. It has the same power of regular bleach and kills off germs and stains with ease, but now it is a lot easier to control.
3. Improved Charcoal
Kingsford charcoal has been the go-to product for backyard grills for more than a generation. It seems impossible to be able to improve on something as basic as charcoal, but Clorox found a way to make the briquettes 7.5% lighter while improving the airflow of the charcoal. By incorporating two large groves on the back of the briquettes, grilling professionals get a hotter cooking surface, a faster lighting experience, and it reduces the overall carbon footprint that is required to make charcoal in the first place.
4. Regular Bleach
It isn’t just thick bleach that Clorox has able to invent. In 1913, five businessmen came together to create the Clorox Company and commercial production of industrial strength bleach began just a year later. A husband and wife team marketed the product and allowed households to try out the cleaning and disinfecting power that bleach was able to provide. By 1921, the company was able to sell enough bleach that it could make donations, choosing the Boy Scouts of America as its first charitable cause.
Strong proponent of individual liberty and free speech. My goal is to present information that expands our awareness of crucial issues and exposes the manufactured illusion of freedom that we are sold in America. Question everything because nothing is what it seems.
