Freudenberg Household Products history

The development of industrial machinery and the internal combustion and other engine types, and their need for sealing systems, gave Freudenberg a new market in the 1920s.

Founded in 1929, Klüber Lubrication produced special purpose lubricants such as extreme temperature lubricants and ultra-pure lubricants for ultra-small ball bearings.

The original leather used proved too fragile for the intense demands placed on the seal and in 1936 the company developed a synthetic rubber replacement.

The company's growing expertise in a wide range of materials was extended again in 1949 when the company turned its production of rubber used in its Simmerring operations to a new sector, that of floor-coverings.

1956: The company begins production of vibration control systems.

Freudenberg found a new international market and new and lasting international partnerships in 1960.

In 1981 the companies, together with Mekton, of Japan, inaugurated Simflex, in Weinheim, for the production of flexible printed circuit boards.

A new market was found in 1991 when the company began producing and marketing MicronAir filters, using the company's nonwoven materials, for automotive air intake systems.

Freudenberg and partners NOK and Vilene took the leap into the Chinese market, forming joint venture production and distribution companies for both seal and nonwovens in 1996.

The company sold its Elefant children's shoes business to Clarks Shoes of England in 2001.