Formula 409 is a Clorox Company brand of home cleaning products that includes Formula 409 All-Purpose Cleaner, Formula 409 Glass and Surface Cleaner, Formula 409 Carpet Cleaner, and many others.
The flagship product was invented in 1957 by Morris D. Rouff (December 20, 1909 – August 19, 1997). Along with his brothers Samuel and Nathan, Rouff was a partner in Gem Products, a company from Detroit, Michigan, which manufactured industrial cleaning supplies. Formula 409’s original application was as a commercial solvent and degreaser for industries that struggled with particularly difficult cleaning problems. As a heavy-duty alkaline product, Formula 409 was harsher and more toxic than today’s residential cleaner, and was sold only in 40-gallon drums.
Urban legend has it that the product is named for the birthday of the inventor's wife or daughter, or alternatively after a large, powerful engine found in Chevrolet cars at the time (as sung by the Beach Boys in their hit song, "409"). However, the product was actually named 409 because it took the inventors 409 tries to get the formula right.[1]
In 1960, Rouff sold Formula 409 to Chemsol, a New York firm, for an amount in the low six-figure range. In the mid-1960s, entrepreneur Wilson Harrell, along with longtime friend David Woodcock and television personality Art Linkletter, bought Formula 409. Harrell, Woodcock & Linkletter bought it for $30,000 and took it national. Linkletter also promoted the product in television commercials. The company eventually took Formula 409 to a 55 percent share of the spray-cleaner market, and six years later, Harrell, Woodcock & Linkletter sold the company to Clorox for $7 million.[1][2]
The original Formula 409 has been discontinued, and has been replaced with "Formula 409 Antibacterial All-Purpose Cleaner," as confirmed in a customer service email:
Formula 409 is also the title of the first single from their 2008 album "Flashy" by Electric Six, where it is used as a metaphor for the power those with money and connections, including politicians and the rich, have to cover up their sordid and illegal actions. It is also mentioned in the Death Cab for Cutie song "What Sarah Said" from their 2005 album "Plans". The song describes an intensive-care unit smelling of 409 and urine.
In Episode 10, "Cellar Beware", of Duckman, Duckman makes unpleasant cocktails for his unwelcome neighbourhood guests
Duckman - "A little Duckman Kickapoo Juice (Kickapoo Joy Juice) to dull the nerve-endings and make everyone seem at least mildly interesting"
Guest - "If I didn't know better I'd say this was Formula 409"