In 1971, Lever rebranded Sunlight as a washing-up liquid in the UK. The soap's appearance in Lumière Brothers films may be an early example of product placement. Sunlight soap was eventually supplanted by modern products made from synthetically produced detergents rather than naturally derived soaps. This was an early labour-saving device for the housewife as prior to this, commercially made soap was bought in long bars. William Lever and his brother James Darcy Lever invested in Watson's soap invention and its initial success came from offering bars of cut, wrapped, and branded soap in his father's grocery shop. Watson's process created a new soap, using glycerin and vegetable oils such as palm oil rather than tallow (animal fats). The soap formula was invented by a Bolton chemist named William Hough Watson, who also became an early business partner.

Designed for washing clothes and general household use, the success of the product led to the name of the company's village for its workers, Port Sunlight. It was the world's first packaged, branded laundry soap. Sunlight household soap was introduced by the British company Lever Brothers in 1884. Sunlight is a brand of laundry soap, laundry detergent and dishwashing detergent manufactured and marketed around the world by Unilever, except in the United States and Canada, where it has been owned by Sun Products (now Henkel Corporation) since 2010. Sunlight Soap ad in the trenches of WW I (1915) Henkel North American Consumer Goods ( United States and Canada) Unilever (except United States and Canada)

Sun laundry detergent