
Disclaimer: The author of this blog post is not in any way affiliated with the Kleenex brand.
Cold season has come upon us. Please wash your hands and avoid spreading germs.
Runny nose season also prompts reminders of the greatness of Kleenex. As I was stuffing my nose with those pieces of paper - yes! Paper! Kleenex (and other facial tissues) are made of pulp, just like tissue paper that you use for gift-wrapping. However, because we use Kleenex to blow our nose and dry our tears, Kleenex is (thankfully) made with high quality requirements. Pulp taken from wood is first put in a hydrapulper, which mixes the pulp with water until the pulp is reduced to individual fibers. Then, each of the fibers is separated to form sheets that are dried and packed into the boxes that we often see them in. Exciting! Kleenex is made of more than just pulp - the Kleenex we use has been softened with lotions, softeners and perfumes. Thus, I can assail my nose repeatedly without irritating my skin. Thanks, Kleenex!
The origins of Kleenex can be traced back to washi, Japanese tissue, developed centuries ago. However, the Kleenex tissue we know and love today was first sold in 1924 by Kimberly-Clark. At that time, a package of 100 sheets sold for 65 cents ($9.44 today, oh my!!). Originally, Kleenex was intended to remove cold cream (skin moisturizer and make-up remover of sorts), and Hollywood stars advertised Kleenex as an effective make-up remover when combined with cold cream. Nevertheless, by 1930, the general public used Kleenex as disposable handkerchiefs, so Kimberly-Clark (the company that owns Kleenex) started advertising ot as what the public wanted - disposable handkerchiefs! (The Kleenex itself did not change, so I guess you can still use them as make-up removers if you have some cold cream lying around…) Now, there are many different kinds - colorful, patterned, soft, ultra soft, ultra ultra soft, ultra ultra ultra soft, etc.
So, whether you use the big boxes, the cube boxes, the pocket packs, or just one sheet at a time, I think we can all agree how wonderful Kleenex is. Now excuse me, I need to go blow my nose again.