Forgotten Brands Like ... Spray Starch

We were cleaning up and realized we had TWO brands of spray starch in the house. Two. Is there room in the market for TWO brands of this stuff? A can lasts all year, doesn’t it?

And what a funny thing to actually sell, as spray starch is really just corn starch and water. Get some Argo corn starch, mix it with water, buy a plastic atomizer, and you have starch for shirts. Yet another Great American Brand for a Recession.

The only thing that differentiates is the brand name. Hey, that’s why we’re here. Cause we like brands.

Certainly, the margins must be good with spray starch, even if you can only sell it for a buck or so. Here are some brands we found:

Niagara spray starch is sold in most stores; it is owned by Phoenix Brands of Stamford, Connecticut. Phoenix owns lots of great brands, including Fab and Rit Dye. Niagara was recently distributed by Best Foods and CPC International Inc. of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
Easy On is owned by Reckitt Benckiser. It markets itself along with a whole suite of laundry care products like Woolite. The most slick packaging.
Faultless is a brand started in 1897. It is made by the Faultless Starch company of Kansas City, Missouri. Faultless owns very many iconic brands including Bon Ami, Kleen King and Ez-off. It also owns the Weed Popper and Garden Weasel. We pulled a bit of history from their website. Faultless was founded by a one Major Thomas G. Beaham, who came to Kansas City from Ohio. His company Beaham & Moffit bought the formula for Faultless Starch and the company was incorporated in 1902. It became Faultless Starch/Bon Ami Company in 1974. It is still owned by the family; a fifth generation of Beahams still runs the company.

Author

Garland Pollard

J. Garland Pollard IV is editor/publisher of BrandlandUSA. Since 2006, the website BrandlandUSA.com has chronicled the history and business of America’s great brands.

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