Who owns Downy?
Downy is owned by Procter & Gamble (the United States, NYSE: PG).[1]
Evidence: The Procter & Gamble Company Form 10-K for fiscal 2026, note 15 - subsequent events, SEC EDGAR. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- The Procter & Gamble Company verified
- Owner HQ
- 🇺🇸 United States, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- Founded
- 1960
- Category
- Home care › Laundry › Fabric softener & stain removal
- Parent ticker
- NYSE: PG
- Trademark registrant
- Procter & Gamble Company, The (USPTO)
- Last verified
- · 2 sources
About Downy
Downy is Procter & Gamble's fabric softener, launched in 1960 as one of the first sold to households in North America. The same product line is sold as Lenor across Europe, and the range has extended into in-wash scent beads that persist through drying.
How often Procter & Gamble names Downy in its annual report
A plain count of the times the name appears in the text of each annual report, not counting the start of a sentence. A brand that an owner writes about more is usually one it treats as central.
Trademark record for Downy
The USPTO record for the Downy mark lists Procter & Gamble Company, The as the owner of record (serial number 72103196). That name matches the owner named above.[2]
Ownership timeline of Downy
- Current owner Procter & Gamble [1] verified
Where Downy sits in Procter & Gamble
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Procter & Gamble ownership tree →
See the full Procter & Gamble brand portfolio (38) →
Other brands owned by Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble controls 38 brands on Brandtree, 11 of them in home care.
Also in home care
- Ariel (1967)
- Bounce (1972)
- Cascade (1953)
- Dawn (1973)
- Fairy (1898)
- Febreze (1996)
- Gain (1969)
- Mr. Clean (1958)
- Swiffer (1999)
- Tide (1946)
Founded in the 1960s
- Bounty (1965)
- Head & Shoulders (1961)
- Pampers (1961)
- Puffs (1960)
- Safeguard (1963)
Other brands in fabric softener & stain removal, and who owns them
The 20 brands in fabric softener & stain removal on Brandtree belong to 15 owners. The largest is Faultless Brands, with 3; Procter & Gamble has 2.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Faultless | Faultless Brands | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Miss Mouth's Messy Eater | Church & Dwight | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Calgon | Reckitt | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
| Scotchgard | 3M | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Herbmarie 1848 | Aekyung | 🇰🇷 South Korea |
| Mon Bijou | Bombril | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| Suavitel | Colgate-Palmolive | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Suavissimo | Dinant | 🇭🇳 Honduras |
Every brand in fabric softener & stain removal and its owner →
About the owner: Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a publicly listed company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, founded in 1837. Brandtree records 38 brands under its control, and it is listed as NYSE: PG.
Procter & Gamble was founded in Cincinnati in 1837 by a candle maker and a soap maker who had married sisters. It deliberately narrowed to around 65 brands in the mid-2010s, selling roughly a hundred others, and now reports through fabric and home care, baby and feminine care, beauty, health care and grooming.
Procter & Gamble: full profile, brands and acquisition history →
🇺🇸 Downy and other American brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 2,550 brands that began in the United States. 479 of them (19%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; Downy is not one of them.
- 3-IN-ONE — WD-40 Company 🇺🇸
- Air Wick — Reckitt 🇬🇧
- Ajax — Colgate-Palmolive 🇺🇸
- All-Clad — Groupe SEB 🇫🇷
- Amazon Basics — Amazon 🇺🇸
- American Girl — Mattel 🇺🇸
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Downy?
The parent company of Downy is Procter & Gamble, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United States.
Is Downy American?
Yes. Downy originated in the United States in 1960 and its owner, Procter & Gamble, is also headquartered in the United States.
Is Downy still owned by Procter & Gamble?
Yes. As of 25 September 2026, Downy is still owned by Procter & Gamble. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (2) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] The Procter & Gamble Company Form 10-K for fiscal 2026, note 15 - subsequent events — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 10-K; retrieved 16 September 2026.
- [2] USPTO: DOWNY, serial 72103196, registration 0718074 — United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark registry; retrieved 25 September 2026.
Report a correction Opens a pre-filled GitHub issue. See our corrections policy.