Who owns Woolite?
Woolite is owned by Reckitt (the United Kingdom, LSE: RKT).[1]
This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.
Evidence: Reckitt Benckiser Group plc Annual Report and Accounts 2025, 5 March 2026 (archived copy). Last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Reckitt Benckiser Group plc reported
- Owner HQ
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom, Slough
- Origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- Founded
- 1952
- Category
- Home care › Laundry › Laundry detergent
- Parent ticker
- LSE: RKT
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About Woolite
Woolite is a mild detergent for delicate fabrics, launched in 1952 for washing wool by hand at a time when most detergents would shrink or felt it. Reckitt sells it across Europe and North America. Ordinary detergents contain enzymes that attack protein fibres, which is precisely what wool and silk are made of.
Ownership timeline of Woolite
Where Woolite sits in Reckitt
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Reckitt ownership tree →
See the full Reckitt brand portfolio (20) →
Other brands owned by Reckitt
Reckitt controls 20 brands on Brandtree, 8 of them in home care.
Also in home care
Founded in the 1950s
Other brands in laundry detergent, and who owns them
The 47 brands in laundry detergent on Brandtree belong to 25 owners. The largest is Alicorp, with 4.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Bolívar | Alicorp | 🇵🇪 Peru |
| Dr. Wool | Jyothy Labs | 🇮🇳 India |
| Ciclón | La Fabril | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
| Ariel | Procter & Gamble | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Savon Étoile | SCS | 🇨🇲 Cameroon |
| Magic | Sulfo Rwanda | 🇷🇼 Rwanda |
| LIQ | Aekyung | 🇰🇷 South Korea |
| Msafi | Bidco Africa | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
About the owner: Reckitt
Reckitt is a publicly listed company headquartered in Slough, United Kingdom, founded in 1999. Brandtree records 20 brands under its control, and it is listed as LSE: RKT.
Reckitt was formed in 1999 by the merger of Britain's Reckitt & Colman with the Dutch-German Benckiser. It concentrates on hygiene, health and nutrition, and has been shrinking its portfolio since a difficult acquisition of infant formula maker Mead Johnson in 2017.
🇺🇸 Woolite and other American brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 2,549 brands that began in the United States. 478 of them (19%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, Woolite among them.
- 3-IN-ONE — WD-40 Company 🇺🇸
- Ajax — Colgate-Palmolive 🇺🇸
- All-Clad — Groupe SEB 🇫🇷
- Amazon Basics — Amazon 🇺🇸
- American Girl — Mattel 🇺🇸
- Arm & Hammer — Church & Dwight 🇺🇸
Official recalls involving Woolite products
1 recall notice from government regulators matched to Woolite. Each applies to the specific products, sizes and lot codes named in the notice, not to every product sold under the name.
- Woolite Delicates detergent in 50-fluid-ounce bottles — CPSC,
Reason given: The recalled products can contain Pseudomonas species bacteria, including Pseudomonas oleovorans, an environmental organism found widely in soil and water. People with weakened…
Recalling firm: Reckitt Benckiser LLC
Matched automatically from FDA, USDA FSIS, UK Food Standards Agency and CPSC records only when the recalling firm corresponds to this ownership record and, for a brand, the brand name appears in the product description. Check the linked notice for exact products and lots. Method.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Woolite?
The parent company of Woolite is Reckitt, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United Kingdom.
Is Woolite American or British?
Woolite originated in the United States in 1952, but it is owned today by Reckitt, which is headquartered in the United Kingdom. So Woolite is an American-origin brand under British ownership.
Is Woolite still owned by Reckitt?
Yes. As of 16 September 2026, Woolite is still owned by Reckitt. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & 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] Reckitt Benckiser Group plc Annual Report and Accounts 2025 — Reckitt Benckiser Group plc, Annual report, published 5 March 2026; retrieved 23 October 2026. The original address no longer opens it, so the link goes to an archived copy (original address).
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