Clorox products are sold primarily through mass merchandisers, retail outlets, e-commerce channels, distributors, and medical supply providers.

Archibald Taft, a banker; Edward Hughes, a purveyor of wood and coal; Charles Husband, a bookkeeper; Rufus Myers, a lawyer; and William Hussey, a miner, each invested $100 to set up a factory on the east side of San Francisco Bay.

[16] The name of its original product, Clorox, was coined as a portmanteau of its two main ingredients, chlorine and sodium hydroxide.

His wife Annie prompted the creation of a less concentrated liquid bleach for home use and built customer demand by giving away 15-US-fluid-ounce (440 ml) sample bottles at the family's grocery store in downtown Oakland.

[17] Word shortly began to spread, and in 1917 the company started shipping Clorox bleach to the East Coast via the Panama Canal.

Almost immediately, a rival company objected to the purchase, and it was challenged by the Federal Trade Commission, which feared it would stifle competition in the household products market.

[22] In 1999, Clorox acquired First Brands, the former consumer products division of Union Carbide, in the largest transaction in its history.

[26] In 2010, Clorox shed businesses that were no longer a good strategic fit for the company, announcing that it was selling the Armor All and STP brands to Avista Capital Partners.

[30] In 2013, the company announced a focus on consumer megatrends that included sustainability, health and wellness, affordability and value, and multiculturalism, with a particular emphasis on the Hispanic community.

Florida-based Nutranext makes natural multivitamins, specialty minerals used as health aids, and supplements for hair, skin and nails.

[34] The company had approximately 8,700 employees worldwide as of 2018, yearly revenue for the period ending June 30, 2018, equaled $6.1 billion.

[37] In 2022, the company opened a new manufacturing facility in Martinsburg, West Virginia, to facilitate the growth of its cat litter business.

[62] The ad, and others, were produced expressly for the television program Mad Men, capitalizing on "the show's unique vintage style to [create] a link between classic and modern consumer behaviors".

Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope stated that one of the nonprofit organization's primary goals is to "foster vibrant, healthy communities with clean water and air that are free from pollution.

The Sierra Club also partnered with Clorox to "promote a line of natural cleaning products for consumers who are moving toward a greener lifestyle".

[67] Several Clorox Green Works products contain ethanol, which environmental groups state is neither cost-effective nor eco-friendly.