Swarfega was invented in 1947 by Audley Bowdler Williamson (28 February 1916 - 21 November 2004), an industrial chemist from Heanor, Derbyshire. In 1941 he had founded a detergent-sales company, Deb Silkware Protection Ltd., based in Belper, to produce a formulation for extending the life of silk stockings. The name derived from "debutante", to signify the newness of the company and its products. The introduction of nylon stockings threatened to render it superfluous; however, Williamson purportedly suggested that mechanics had already found it useful for cleaning their hands. This may have been a myth encouraged to attract interest, but the product was reformulated and marketed as Swarfega, becoming the company's main product. (The company’s name had been changed to Deb Chemical Proprietaries Ltd.) Before Swarfega, mechanics used a variety of harsh home-brewed cleaners such as paraffin (kerosene), sand and petrol. These removed the skin's natural oils, leading to dry, cracked skin and the risk of occupational dermatitis. The effectiveness of Swarfega is due to the hydrophobic ingredients, including medium-chain (C9-C16) alkanes and cycloalkanes; in combination with an emulsifier (Trideceth-5 in current formulations). These are more efficient at solubilizing oil and grease than a detergent alone.