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The name 'Swarfega' is known around the world, for the industrial strength hand-cleaner is today sold in over 100 countries, and has given its name to a full range of skin-care products made by the Belper-based company DEB Ltd. Here Peter Seddon presents a potted history of the product and the Derbyshire man who invented it.

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'Swarfega' may not be the most glamorous product in the world. But it is one of the most essential. It cleans even the toughest grease and grime off dirty hands - and there are dirty hands the world over. The old saying 'where there's muck there's brass' certainly holds true for the makers of Swarfega.

The product's inventor was Audley Bowdler Williamson, known in the business as plain old 'A. B.'

He was born at Heanor, Derbyshire, in February 1916, and attended Heanor Grammar School. He might well have joined the family haulage and bus company, but instead at the age of 18 he became a trainee industrial chemist at the Silkolene manufactory Dalton's in Belper.

At the tender age of 25 in 1941 he founded Deb Silkwear Production Ltd., the name being decided upon when the firm made its 'debut' on the market.

From small premises at Belper, 'A. B.' developed his first product, a mild solution for hand-washing silk stockings, intended to prevent them laddering - quite a necessary product in those austere wartime days.

But all too soon the product became obsolete, for shortly after the Americans entered the war, new-fangled 'nylons' replaced silk stockings as every lady's choice. 'A. B.' needed further inspiration, and quickly.

It came close to home. Raised in a household where dirt and grease were the product of everyday work, he determined to invent a skin-friendly detergent which would clean hands without leaving them red raw.

His new product 'Swarfega' was registered as a trademark in 1947. The unusual name was simply formulated - 'swarf' was the name used in industry for the grimy mix of oil and metal filings which spoiled the hands rotten. And every worker in the land was 'eager' to be rid of it. 'Swarfega' was the catchier adaptation.

It was the first hand cleaner of its type in the world, marketed with the neat slogan 'Clean Hands in a Flash'. Motor mechanics lapped it up, as did the home tinkerers working on their cycles, motor bikes or cars.

But the more important breakthrough came via the institutional purchasers and large industrialists - the armed forces, National Coal Board, steelworks, railways, shipbuilders and car manufacturers all became valued customers ordering huge quantitities.

'Swarfega' had become a winning product almost overnight. By the time A. B. Williamson retired in 1986, DEB Ltd. had become Britain's largest manufacturer of skincare products for the workplace, with more than 20 brands supplied to over 100 countries.

In 2004 the one remaining member of the Williamson family still involved in DEB sold his stake in the company. By then it boasted an annual turnover of £60 million, and he is said to have sold his share for £135 million.

As for 'A. B.' himself, he sought to put something back into the local community. He established the Belper Civic Association and the Ryklow Charitable Trust, which helps fund wildlife, environmental and Third World projects. The trust also provides student grants and assists charities which support disadvantaged families.

In retirement A. B. Williamson followed his hobbies of gardening and sailing. He died in November 2004 aged eighty-eight. He was survived by 'Swarfega', which continues to rid the world of grimy hands to this day.

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I believe that AB Williamson also bequeathed a huge sum of money to be put to some sort of community use in Belper, but I am not not sure what has happened to this or who is administering it. Bearepairean.

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