Harpic
Harpic is the brand name of a toilet bowl cleaner launched in England in the 1920s and now marketed by Reckitt Benckiser. It is currently available in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and Eastern Europe. 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, along with butyl oleylamine and others in an aqueous solution.
History
The original toilet cleaner was invented by Harry Pickup, who was based in Roscoe Street, Scarborough, in North Yorkshire. He also invented Oxypic, which was a sealant used in cast iron heating systems.
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.[specify]
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