Bar Keepers Friend is a powdered cleaning product made by SerVaas Laboratories in the United States. Invented by a Central Indiana chemist in 1882, it has since become the base of a line of cleaning products by SerVaas, who started producing and carrying the product under the Bar Keepers Friend name in the 1950s. Unlike similar abrasive cleaning products, such as Comet and Ajax, Bar Keepers Friend uses oxalic acid as its active ingredient.[1]
In 1994, Consumer Reports found Bar Keepers Friend to be on a par with Mr. Clean for removing baked-on soil, tea stains and other pot stains, and better at removing rust.[1] While there are a number of appropriate uses for it, experts warn that it should never be used to clean silverware, real marble, or pewter.[2]
The logo of Bar Keepers Friend represents the swinging doors of a saloon. According to the President of SerVaas Laboratories, Robert Silvers, although some people complained during Prohibition, "the name was never changed. It's been Bar Keepers Friend since 1882."[1]