PAINTED ROADSIDE ADVERTISEMENTS - Index of Brands

Cleaning and maintenance - Soap

Baquesíl
Brillant Belge
Ça-va-seul
Le Chat
Eclipse
Klin
Lux
Mik
Miror
Saba
Saponite
Sunlight
Sunlicht
Vigor
Vikram
Wavi

Marolles (France);
12.vi.2000
Savon Le Chat
or
The Cat Soap

 
Le Chat saw light in 1853 as a cube of soap made by a company in Marseille: C. Ferrier &Cie - La Grande Savonnerie.
Davezieux (N82, France);
vii.1999; pict. T. Dubois
Le Chat was bought by Henkel in 1986. The Cat — still present on the package — has been shrunk into a small icon.

(www.henkel.fr; www.lechat.fr)

Lede (Belgium);
xi.1998
Zeeppoeder
VIGOR

Voor de zware wasch

or
Soap powder VIGOR
For the heavy laundering

The Dutch version of the advertisement.

Ukkel (Belgium); vii.1998;
pict.: A. Guët
Savon en poudre
VIGOR

The French version of the ad.

The 'fuel section' features other suggestive names like Energic, Spido, Energol, ...

Arlon (Belgium); iii.2000;
pict.: Beke & Bousard
Savon en poudre
VIGOR

Pour la grosse lessive

or
Soap powder VIGOR
For the heavy laundry

Turnhout (Belgium); ix.1999;
spotted by B. Baeten
LUX - Voor alle fijne wasch
or
LUX - for all fine laundering.
 
LUX and VIGOR target opposite ends of the washing-scale.
Both murals for LUX and VIGOR are also very old. The Dutch word wasch spells was since 1946 !
Nivelles (Belgium);
iii.1999
LUX - Pour lavages ???
or
LUX - for ??? laundering.

To me Lux was Unilever-movie-star toilet-soap. And now this: Lux for laundry.

Andenne (Belgium); 08.ix.2002;
pict. J. Muller
LUX - Pour lavages délicats
or
LUX - for the delicate laundering.

Hemiksem (Belgium);
12.ix.1999
SUNLIGHT zeep (=soap)

Until 1884 soap was just soap.
But then William Lever (founder of Unilever) wrapped his Sunlight in vivid colours. This innovative approach resulted in a number one position in many countries.
Vigor is also a Unilever brand.

Gent (Belgium);
ii.1998
SUNLIGHT zeep
or: Sunlight soap
The background shows a palm tree with PALMEX
Vorst (Brussels, Belgium);
vi.1998; pict. A. Guët
Sunlight savon (=soap)

Several layers of the same and other brands.

The lower part of this wall is in the Lubricants section.

Brussels (Belgium); ix.1998;
pict. A. Guët.
Sunlight
St. Denijs (Belgium); viii.1999;
pict. M. Tailly.
SUNLIGHT zeep

Sunlight on this exposed wall on a railway station diverts notably from the usual scheme.

Gent (Belgium);
vi.2000
The typical Sunlight Zeep wall.

Interesting though because of the Camus-announcement.

CAMUS
la grande marque
COGNAC

We have more Camus on the site.

Sri Lanka; iii.2002;
pict. H. De Meyer
Sunlight - Pure Soap

Notice the lower case type. The Belgian walls are in uppercase.
It's also remarkable that we haven't any other Sunlight murals except for Belgium. Lux and Vigor finds also come only from Belgium.

Liège (Belgium), x.2002;
pict. J. Muller
Sunlight - Savon

The French version

Lessen (Belgium);
vi.2004
Sunlight - Savon

Strassbourg (France), i.2005;
pict. M. Jullien
Sunlicht - Seife
Leichte Arbeit - Völler Erfolg

or
Sunlicht - Soap
No Sweat - Great Results

In 1899, W. Lever started produc­tion of his Sunlight Soap in Germa­ny. It was a great succes and in 1903 the German version of the brand was created : Sunlicht.

Alsace was German territory before 1918. This wall could well date from then, the early days of the brand.

San Sebastian (Spain), vii.2010;
pict. A. Guët
Escamas BAQUESÍL
para lavar prendas delicadas

or
soapflakes Baquesíl
for delicate garments

In the 1960s and '70s Spanish news­papers regularly ran classi­fieds for sales representatives. The company disappeared in the 1980s.

We have more advertisements with tiles: e.g. Philips light bulbs or Studebaker cars.

 
 
The detail on the tiles is amazing:

Apriete aqui y tire

Este jabón es NEUTRO
No contiene acidos rasinas ni alcalis libras y su contenido es de un 80% de grasa (ac.gr.)

VENTA AL PUBLICO (Inc. UyC)
Peso salida mag 120 grs
Contenido neto 100 grs.

St Pierre les Nemours (N7, France);
1997; pict. T. Dubois
SAPONITE - marque déposée

Excellent wall featuring Mr. Bonaparte who is clearly impressed by the qualities of the product.

The Emperor supports a Cognac too.

Charenton le Pont (France);
xi.1999; pict. A. Guët
SAPONITE - la bonne lessive
or Saponite the right washing powder.

Almost lost and showing the same drawing as the 1997 find but en­hanced with a short recommen­dation. Below the tub remains of marque déposée can be seen.

Saponite is a synonym for the mineral Montmorillonite also known as Mountain soap.

Asnières (92 France);
springtime 1996; pict. T. Dubois
Saponite advert over an older KUB.

Find a modern KUB artwork.

Liège (Belgium); viii.2002;
pict. J. Muller
WAVI le savon complet pour toutes Lessives a base d'Elium
or
WAVI the complete soap for all laundry, based on Elium.

I wonder what Elium might be.

The left wing shows the package with a bilingual (French - Dutch) text stating New - contains Elium in the red blot and in the yellow rubans repeating that it is a complete product.

The right wing says Glycérine parfumé and gives the NET weigth of the box.

Thies (Senegal); xii.2003;
pict. H. De Meyer
so Klin
nouveau parfum - plus protecteur de couleurs - Lessive concentrée - extra puissante - 30% plus economique

or
so Klin
new scent - protects colours better - concentrated - extra strong - 30% better value

(Madagascar); 22.x.2012; pict. H. De Meyer
SABA Power

SABA is a brand of Pacific Interlink, incorporated in 1988 in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). Saba is presumable one of the most trusted brands in many Sub-Saharan countries.

 
SABA Power
Detergent Powder ● Extra Power Concentrate ● Protects Colour ● Removes Stubborn Stains ● Safe on Hands

More cleaning: Cleaning and maintenance part 1
Related: Bodycare
Home appliances

Path: Home / Painted roadside advertisements / Cleaning and maintenance
e-mail: