In 1950, Alfred Karcher laid the foundation for his company’s growth when he developed the
world’s first hot-water high-pressure washer. Today, Karcher is known as the worldwide
leader in cleaning for our complete range of innovative cleaning products. With decades
of experience in cleaning, Karcher continues to set industry-leading benchmarks; no other
industrial cleaning company can match our commitment to quality, ergonomics, cutting-edge
technology and product innovation. As a testament to our products’ quality and performance,
worldwide a Karcher is sold every 6 seconds!
Karcher Commercial Products manufactures a broad range of hot and cold, electric and gas,
industrial pressure washers with the most standard features available on the market today.
Our pressure washers are designed to meet the highest performance standards in a variety of
industries -- we have a pressure washer to meet virtually every need.
About Alfred Karcher, Inventor and Entrepreneur
Alfred Karcher was one of those inventors-entrepreneurs that Württemberg has brought forth
in great numbers since the beginning of industrialization – illustrious names such as
Robert Bosch and Gottlieb Daimler, or Count Zeppelin. They fought to realize their ideas
with enormous diligence and commitment.
A former employee sees him in retrospect: “When Alfred Karcher was in his element, when we
were running trials and test, the atmosphere was simply exciting. He just couldn’t be
stopped, he had a constant stream of new ideas.”
In the early thirties Alfred Karcher specialized in the design of industrial submersible
heating elements, i.e. in salt smelters which were heated with immersion heaters. After
numerous experiments, a hardening furnace for alloys was produced, the so-called “Karcher
Salt-Bath Furnace”. 1,200 units were sold up to 1945.
Alfred Karcher was not to enjoy the fruits of his great invention. The company founder
died from a heart attack on 17th September 1959 at the age of 58. He left behind his wife
Irene, his nine-year old son Johannes and his three-year old daughter Susanne.
From the Heat Generators to High-Pressure Cleaners
“Heat from Winnenden / A Visit to Alfred Karcher, Makers of Heat Generators” – that was the
heading of an article that appeared in the “Rems Valley” magazine in November 1960. The
report concludes: “Alfred Karcher initially specialized almost exclusively in the
development, manufacturing and distribution of heating systems. The first hot water
high-pressure cleaners must also be seen in this context.”
An extract from a description of the company that appeared in 1940: “The Alfred Karcher
factory has grown from modest beginnings into an attractive industrial complex with
spacious, buildings, wide streets and large storage areas. It originally built its own
patented electric industrial furnaces, especially salt-bath furnaces (salt smelters) for
tempering steel and hardening alloys."
Since Alfred Karcher’s founding, Karcher has grown to become the world’s largest
manufacturer of cleaning equipment. The extended Karcher product family includes
pressure washers, wet/dry blasting systems, vacuums, steam cleaners, floor sweepers,
floor scrubbers; car and truck wash systems; cleaning detergents; drinking water systems
and waste water treatment systems and numerous other consumer and commercial-grade products.
Karcher currently has more than 5,400 employees worldwide in 35 countries and, in 2004,
manufactured more than 4.9 million machines in it’s 8 production facilities in the U.S.,
Germany, Italy, and Brazil.