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Vaseline

From Openwaterpedia

noun - Vaseline is a brand of petroleum jelly based products owned by Unilever. Products include plain petroleum jelly and a selection of skin creams, soaps, lotions, cleansers, deodorants and personal lubricants.

Uses

1. Vaseline is often used as an anti-chafing lubricant agent for open water swimmers and triathletes under their arms, around their necks, and between their legs.
2. While Vaseline can be used as a lubricant by athletes including swimmers, runners and cyclists, it is also a useful moisture insulator for local skin conditions characterized by tissue dehydration. Vaseline helps protect minor cuts and burns.
3. Vaseline can help prevent ziplining by unscrupulous competitors.

History

The first known reference to the name Vaseline was by the inventor of petroleum jelly, Robert Chesebrough in his U.S. patent for the process of making petroleum jelly (U.S. Patent 127,568) in 1872.

In 1859, Chesebrough went to the oil fields in Titusville, Pennsylvania, and learned of a residue called rod wax that had to be periodically removed from oil rig pumps. The oil workers had been using the substance to heal cuts and burns. Chesebrough took samples of the rod wax back to Brooklyn, extracted the usable petroleum jelly, and began manufacturing the medicinal product he called Vaseline. Vaseline was made by the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company until the company was purchased by Unilever in 1987.

Origin

The word is believed to come from German Wasser (water) + Greek έλαιον [elaion] (oil) + scientific-sounded ending -ine.

External links

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