Joseph lawrence asserted that it could fight gonorrhea and also clean floors.
Listerine floor cleaner gonorrhea.
Listerine now a product of pfizer inc is a common household item known for its antiseptic properties.
To increase sales they began marketing it as a floor cleaner and a cure for gonorrhea.
Listerine for instance was invented in the nineteenth century as powerful surgical antiseptic.
Now 137 years later scientists have published the first ever randomized controlled trial testing listerine s gonorrhea claim in the medical journal sexually.
But it wasn t a runaway success until the 1920s when it was pitched as a solution for chronic halitosis a then obscure medical term for bad breath.
Listerine mouthwash is a cheap easy to use and effective agent that inhibits gonorrhea growth and requires further careful consideration and study wrote the researchers.
When listerine was concocted in 1879 inventor dr.
Listerine was first invented in the late 19th century and as early at 1879 manufacturers claimed the disinfectant was effective at both cleaning floors and curing gonorrhea.
In 1879 listerine was named after him.
In all that time there have been no published studies of the claim.
While used today primarily as a mouthwash for oral health and hygiene it has been sold as a surgical disinfectant a cure for dandruff a floor cleaner a hair tonic a deodorant and as a beneficial remedy for diseases ranging from diphtheria and dysentery to small pox and gonorrhea.
That brought company revenues to about 115k but marketers had another idea in the 1920s.