Kimberly-Clark celebrates 100 years of Kleenex with a tour at the X-Mill plant in Neenah
The celebration included the donation of 10,000 boxes of tissues to local schools and $10,000 to the Building for Kids Children's Museum to support science and technology education
Kimberly-Clark Corp. celebrated the 100th anniversary of its famous Kleenex facial tissues with a tour of its experimental mill in Neenah, Wisconsin, where the company was founded. The mill, known as the X-Mill, is used to test and perfect products such as Kleenex, Cottonelle, Scott and Viva prior to full-scale production.
Mark Verburgt, X-Mill’s chief operating officer, emphasized that “everything we do here is based on research.” He added, “I like to say that our output is data. We run tests to provide data to our research and engineering team so they can improve their products.”
Kleenex tissues were introduced in 1924 as a solution for removing facial cream. Over time, they gained popularity as tissues, becoming a generic term used by consumers to refer to facial tissues. “It all started here in Neenah and then has been executed worldwide,” said Lewis Orchard, senior manager of research and engineering for Kleenex.
During the celebration, participants had the opportunity to learn about the Kleenex manufacturing process, although the use of cameras was prohibited due to the company’s confidentiality policy. Kleenex production involves the use of soft and hard wood fibers, which give the product its strength and softness. Verburgt explained that the pulp mixture used contains 99.85% water and 0.15% fiber, which is converted into sheets of paper through a drying and softening process.
In addition, Kimberly-Clark announced the donation of 10,000 boxes of Kleenex tissues to local schools, as well as $10,000 to the Building for Kids Children’s Museum in Appleton to support its science and technology education programming.
Also, Brenda Coulter, director of research and engineering, said, “Some of the best research and engineering leaders have worked on the Kleenex brand over the past 100 years.”
The celebration not only highlighted the history of the product, but also Kimberly-Clark’s continued commitment to innovation and quality.
