Vim is the name of a range of household

cleaning Cleaning is the process of removing unwanted substances, such as dirt, infectious agents, and other impurities, from an object or environment. Cleaning is often performed for aesthetic, hygienic, functional, environmental, or safety purposes. Cl ...

products originally produced by

Lever Brothers Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by two brothers: William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). They invested in and successfully promoted a new soap-making p ...

(later

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

).''Vim''
at Unilever's Consumer Canada website. The Vim brand is currently owned by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

multinational company

Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Henkel, is a German multinational chemical and consumer goods company headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. It is active in both the consumer and industrial sectors. Founded in 1876, the DAX company is organi ...

, and the Anglo-Dutch multinational company

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

History

Vim scouring powder, one of the first products created by

William Lever William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme , (, ; 19 September 1851 – 7 May 1925) was an English industrialist, philanthropist, and politician. Having been educated at a small private school until the age of nine, then at church schools ...

, first appeared on the market in 1904, an offshoot of

Monkey Brand Monkey Brand soap was introduced in the 1880s in cake/bar form in the United States and United Kingdom as a household scouring and polishing soap. History Initially, Benjamin Brooke & Co Ltd, a firm owned by Sidney and Henry Gross, had produced ...

scouring soap. The name is thought to derive from the colloquial English word " vim" which has the same meaning as the Latin ''vis'', ''vim'' ("force", "vigour"). Vim was produced at

Port Sunlight Port Sunlight is a model village and suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside. It is located between Lower Bebington and New Ferry, on the Wirral Peninsula. Port Sunlight was built by Lever Brothers to accommodate workers in it ...

near

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, England. The name Vim remained solely associated with the scouring powder until 1993, when a range of associated products were released. Vim was also the name of a detergent tablet manufactured by Lever Brothers, and sold in the United States during the 1960s. It was the sponsor of the sitcom on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

, ''

The Lucy Show ''The Lucy Show'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1962 to 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to ''I Love Lucy''. A significant change in cast and premise for the fourth season (1965–1966) divides the program into two distinct ...

'', starring

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golden ...

. Former owner

abandoned Vim in favour of rival product Jif, although it was still sold in some other countries in Europe. In December 2004, it was sold to the group

Guaber Spotless Group SAS was a pan-European manufacturer of insect control and laundry products, based in Paris, France. In 2015, it became part of Germany's Henkel group. Operations Spotless Group was established by AXA Private Equity (renamed A ...

, based in Italy. Vim is currently owned by Henkel Group after its acquisition of

Spotless Group Spotless Group SAS was a pan-European manufacturer of insect control and laundry products, based in Paris, France. In 2015, it became part of Germany's Henkel group. Operations Spotless Group was established by AXA Private Equity (renamed A ...

in 2015, although it is still marketed by Unilever in Canada and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, where it has a 90% market share.''Vim''
at Unilever's Sri Lanka website. Vim is also sold as a

brand in South Africa and India.''Vim''
at Unilever's South African website.

Notes

{{Unilever Cleaning products Unilever brands

History

See also

Notes