From humble beginnings

Zoflora's manufacturer Thornton and Ross was founded in 1922 by Nathan Thornton and his partner Philip Ross. Back in the early 1920s, Nathan Thornton was the Chemist and Works Manager at a tar distillery and ammonia Works in Huddersfield which produced a whole range of coal tar by-products, including disinfectants and soaps.

At this time, the main choice of household disinfectant was carbolic acid, which killed germs but also left behind a horrible smell! Mr Thornton saw a gap in the market, and his special knowledge led him to the development of Zoflora disinfectant - a powerful disinfectant with twice the germ-killing power of carbolic acid, but with beautiful fragrance oils extracted from flowers.

A revolutionary invention

Zoflora was Nathan Thornton's great creation. It was originally developed for use in public places to eliminate odours from smoke etc and kill germs in factories, cinemas, dance and concert halls.

Mr Thornton had a large brass pressure sprayer which he took to these premises and sprayed Zoflora all around to demonstrate its beneficial effects. People were so impressed with these wonderful aromas that they wanted to use Zoflora in their own homes.

Fragrant solutions

This led to the production of the "domestic user" Zoflora which was sold only by chemists for a cost of three shillings! This was a small (2fl.oz.) glass bottle of Zoflora, packaged with a large spray bottle (8fl.oz.) from which diluted-for-use Zoflora could be sprayed around the home. Zoflora has always been available in a variety of fragrances and sizes, although the fragrance selection has changed over time. Some earlier fragrances included Honeysuckle, Hawthorn, Violet and Night Scented Stocks, while others such as Bouquet, Lavender and Sweet Pea have stood the test of time and are still as popular now as they were nearly 80 years ago.

Zoflora today

The success of Zoflora over the years has been due in no small part to the quality of the product itself, including the long lasting, high quality authentic fragrance, which in Zoflora is at a much higher concentration than is usual for household products.

Now, Zoflora has a really loyal customer following with over 2 million households buying the brand.

In recent years the company has invested in a multi-million pound manufacturing and packing facility for Zoflora based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, in order to cope with increasing demand.