40 company industry cleaning products founded 1978 founder al eisen headquarters passaic new jersey united states parent wd 40 company website www.2000flushesbrand.com 2000 flushes is an automatic toilet cleaning product produced by the wd 40 company . the toilet cleaner is dispensed from an in tank package . history edit 2000 flushes was created by al eisen founder of new jersey based flushco inc. 1 according to the company eisen s wife asked him to clean the toilet ; he hated the job and tried to find a better way . his initial experiment a cup with chlorine weighted with rocks and installed in the toilet tank worked well at keeping his toilet clean for months . the idea behind 2000 flushes was born . 2 the first newspaper advertisements appeared in 1978 ; 3 in march 1979 this was supplemented by simple broadcast advertising with the tagline if there s one job i hate it s scrubbing the toilet . 4 the product was well enough received in its initial us markets to represent a credible rival to vanish brand which held a dominant market position at the time with a sani flush like crystal toilet bowl cleaner . before 2000 flushes could complete its national expansion westward vanish began disparaging advertising suggesting calcium hypochlorite toilet cleaners damaged plumbing . in fall 1981 a group of manufacturers led by twinoak which made 120 day automatic toilet bowl cleaner since 1965 obtained an out of court settlement against drackett company maker of vanish . as part of the undisclosed cash settlement disparaging advertisements were withdrawn . 5 block drug purchased flushco acquiring 2000 flushes toilet bowl cleaner in 1983 . 6 block distributed multiple versions of the product such as 2000 flushes blue and 2000 flushes powder foam . 7 it sold the brand as part of a larger 1998 corporate restructuring . 8 al eisen as inventor of 2000 flushes made personal appearances in many early ads for the product in which he holds up four fingers and boasts it works up to four months 9 in october 1993 toilet fixture manufacturers reported rapid degradation of flush valve flappers ; some new water saving toilets introduced to meet a 1994 us federal water conservation deadline 10 were leaking within months of installation . the growing popularity of in tank drop in cleaning tablets quickly drew suspicion as many contain chlorine bleach ; if a toilet is flushed infrequently the amount of chlorine in the tank may build to problematic levels . the metropolitan water district of southern california mwd began tests of flapper materials in 1994 1997 . 11 by 1998 flappers had been redesigned to withstand continuous immersion in 2000 flushes or clorox bowl cleaners then the most popular products . 12 a rival in tank cleaner introduced by vanish in 2000 caused problems until new durability and marking requirements for flappers were added to the asme a112 .19.5 standard in 2005 . 13 in 2001 san diego based wd 40 company acquired global household brands 14 15 a company founded in 1998 to acquire x 14 2000 flushes and carpet fresh . 16 2000 flushes is now packaged as a solid tablet for in tank use like many of its rivals . there are multiple product versions and reformulations ; some add a detergent some add a concentrated bleach . in 2008 a disinfectant was added to kill 99.9 % of bacteria flush after flush in an apparent response to competitive pressures ; ty d bol has claimed to kill 99.9 % of toilet bowl germs with every flush since 1994 and crystal bowl cleaners have made claims to kill millions of germs since sani flush s 1911 introduction . while toxicity varies between the differing 2000 flushes formulations most are not pet safe . 17 references edit us trademark 73176664 2000 flushes cleaner for toilet bowls filed june 30 1978 2000 flushes history toilet bowl cleaners & toilet detergents . 2000 flushes . retrieved 2014 07 27 . new 2000 flushes automatic bowl cleaner boscov s advertisement reading eagle nov 11 1978 newspaper advertisement i quit the job i hate most the pittsburgh press apr 11 1979 dougherty philip h. 1982 03 01 . advertising new bowl cleaners on the way . ny times . retrieved 2014 07 27 . goldblatt dan september 7 1994 . new jersey s most private public company . northern business . p. 48 . encyclopedia of new jersey . retrieved 2014 07 27 . history of block drug company . funding universe . retrieved 2014 07 27 . 2000 flushes history toilet bowl cleaners & toilet detergents . 2000flushesbrand . com . retrieved 2014 07 27 . toilet fixtures introduction . alliance for water efficiency . 1994 01 01 . retrieved 2014 07 27 . resources product information toilet fixtures flappers & flush valve seals . california urban water conservation council . retrieved 2014 07 27 . toilet flappers the weak link of water conservation john koeller p.e revised july 21 2004 toilet flappers the former weak link of water conservation koeller april 2008 wd 40 company to acquire global household brands press release . 2001 04 30 . retrieved 2014 07 27 . learn what wd 40 stands for and more about our company history . wd40 company . retrieved 2014 07 27 . kim hank 1998 05 18 . global household brands shops bloom s x 14 cleaner . adweek . retrieved 2014 07 27 . christine church . house cat how to keep your indoor cat sane and sound . retrieved 2014 07 27 . external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title 2000 flushes & oldid 743003218 categories companies established in 1978companies based in new jerseymultinational companiescleaning product brandshidden categories pages using infobox company with unsupported parameters navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 7 october 2016 at 04 58 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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