Zoflora

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.

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.