Reckitt's Blue
Description
[Reckitt Benckiser, England] Trademark for a series of laundry bluing agents. First sold in the 1850's, Reckitt's Blue was also sold under the names of Dolly Blue and Robin Blue. In 1890, the company introduced Bag Blue which is still on the market today. Bag Blue consists of a solid cylinder of synthetic ultramarine blue with a carbohydrate binder such as Carrageenan, Gum arabic and/or Starch. Currently, Reckitt's sells Liquid Blue and Powder Blue sachets both of which contain synthetic ultramarine blue.
See also Laundry blue.
Synonyms and Related Terms
Dolly Blue; Robin Blue powder; laundry blue; blueing agent; bluing; washing blue
Additional Information
° Odegaard, M. Crawford, "Laundry Bluing as a Colorant" in Ethnographic Objects: ICOM Preprints 11th triennial meeting, Vol II, Edinburgh, 1996. ° G. Barton, S.Weik, ""Blue in the Pacific" SSCR Journal, Vol. 9 (4), 1998.