Vaseline is a brand of
petroleum jellyPetroleum jelly, petrolatum, white petrolatum or soft paraffin, CAS number 8009-03-8, is a semi-solid mixture of hydrocarbons , originally promoted as a topical ointment for its healing properties...
based products owned by Anglo-Dutch company
UnileverUnilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
. Products include plain petroleum jelly and a selection of skin creams, soaps, lotions, cleansers, deodorants and
personal lubricantPersonal lubricants are specialized lubricants to reduce friction between body parts, or between body parts and other objects...
s.
The Vaseline name is considered generic in Portuguese and Spanish speaking countries, where the Unilever products are called
Vasenol.
History
The first known reference to the name Vaseline was by the inventor of petroleum jelly,
Robert ChesebroughSir Robert Augustus Chesebrough, was a chemist and the inventor of petroleum jelly, which he trade-named as Vaseline. In 1875 he founded the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company that in 1955 became Chesebrough-Ponds, a leading manufacturer of personal care products. Chesebrough patented the process...
in his U.S. patent for the process of making petroleum jelly (U.S. Patent 127,568) in 1872. "I, Robert Chesebrough, have invented a new and useful product from petroleum which I have named Vaseline...".
The word is believed to come from German
Wasser (water) + Greek
έλαιον [elaion] (oil)
+ scientific-sounded ending
-ine.
In 1859, Chesebrough went to the oil fields in
Titusville, PennsylvaniaTitusville is a city in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,146 at the 2000 census. In 1859, oil was successfully drilled in Titusville, resulting in the birth of the modern oil industry.-History:...
, and learned of a residue called "rod wax" that had to be periodically removed from oil rig pumps. The oil workers had been using the substance to heal cuts and burns. Chesebrough took samples of the rod wax back to Brooklyn, extracted the usable petroleum jelly, and began manufacturing the medicinal product he called Vaseline.
Vaseline was made by the
Chesebrough Manufacturing CompanyChesebrough Manufacturing Company was an oil business which produced petroleum jelly or vaseline, which was marketed with the brand name Luxor. It was founded in 1859. Robert Augustus Chesebrough, a chemist who started the company, was interested in marketing oil products for medicinal needs. He...
until the company was purchased by
UnileverUnilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
in 1987.
Usage
While Vaseline can be used as a lubricant, it is also a useful moisture insulator for local skin conditions characterized by tissue dehydration.