The first textile additive

Monopol soap

It is probably not very widely known that natural fibers, particularly wool, cotton and silk, are extremely unmanagable when it comes to processing them, especially with regard to bleaching, dying or finishing. For centuries, soap was well known as an additive for preparing fibers for processing – albeit imperfect, largely due to its susceptibility to the hardening elements in water. For this reason, in the second half of the 19th century, Turkish red oils, made from sulfonated castor oil were used more frequently for this purpose. In 1896, Dr. Julius Stockhausen, the founder and general partner of the Krefeld-based soap factory Stockhausen & Traiser, made a breakthrough in the development of modern textile additives. Monopol soap and its liquid variant, Monopol oil, are also sulfonated castor oils, but more sulfonated than normal Turkish red oils and yield much better results in dying textiles. Hans Stockhausen, one of Dr. Julius Stockhausen’s sons, succeeded in furthering the development of Monopol soap, which initially had only been successful in the laboratory, so that it could go into production on a large-scale. He was also able to find a ready market for it, particularly in the silk industry.

Advertising for Monopol soap, around 1910

Monopol soap and Monopol oil were considered at that time to be the “first real textile additives.” They not only created a new market, but also characterized the Crefelder Seifenfabrik for a long time. Within a few years, business with Monopol soap and some of its derivatives, grew so much that a new factory, which still exists today, had to be built on the Bäkerpfad especially for its production. In addition, in 1912, the Chemische Fabrik Stockhausen & Cie. was founded and quickly became independent of the old soap factory.

In 1907 Stockhausen signed the so-called Bayer contract, which finally ran out in 1991, when the Leverkusen-based company gave up its shares in Stockhausen. In 1907, Bayer took over international marketing for the new Stockhausen products and in return stopped competing with the company in Krefeld at home.

Although by the 1930s Monopol soap was no longer modern and became completely insignificant after WWII, it is considered today a key product in the history of the company. Essentially, Stockhausen’s excellent reputation is founded on it even though Stockhausen GmbH, a Degussa subsidiary today, sold off its textile business at the beginning of the 21st century.