Calgon (water softener)

Not to be confused with the bath and beauty brand Calgon owned by PDC Brands.

Calgon

Product type	Water softener
Owner	Reckitt Benckiser
Country	United Kingdom
Introduced	1933;92 years ago (1933)
Markets	Europe
Previous owners	Calgon, Inc. Merck & Co.
Tagline	Washing machines live longer with Calgon!
Website	calgon.com

Calgon is a British brand of water softener products owned by the Anglo-Dutch company Reckitt Benckiser.

Advertising

In Portugal, the Calgon advertisement jingle has been the same popular one ^{[1] [ better source needed ]} for almost 30 years.^{[ when? ]}

In Italy, Calgon was called Calfort from 1965 to early 2008. ^[2]

In the UK & Ireland, Calgon started advertising on TV in March 1985 and it's still in use today.

Criticism

In May 2011, a study by Which? magazine demonstrated that there was no evidence to suggest that washing machines lasted longer when treated with Calgon under "normal" washing conditions. Calgon disputes this, however. ^[3] In October 2011, Dutch TROS TV program Radar also concluded Calgon water softener is not necessary under "normal" washing conditions for Dutch customers. ^[4]

References

1. "Portuguese Calgon jingle - "Prolongue a vida da sua máquina com Calgon!"". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2024-12-16. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
2. "Reckitt Benckiser ribattezza Calfort con il brand mondiale Calgon". gdoweek.it (in Italian). October 28, 2008. Archived from the original on May 15, 2013. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
3. Insley, Jill (26 May 2011). "'Washing machines live just as long without Calgon' – Which?". TheGuardian.com . Retrieved 19 July 2016.
4. "Leven wasmachines langer met Calgon?". Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2016.