Since 1957: Filter mats

From the script of the filter business – Take one

According to anecdote, the chauffeur of one of the company’s executive managers at the time, Hans Freudenberg, was a trailblazer for Freudenberg’s filter business in the 1950s. Dapper as he was, he wanted to use nonwoven fabric to keep road dust and soot from entering the vehicle and soiling his snazzy chauffeur outfit.

He acquired a piece of nonwoven produced by the company and fastened it to the air intake pipe. It is important to know here: Freudenberg had begun already in 1936 with the development of the first nonwoven materials, but they were previously used for other purposes, such as for linings in clothing or for Vileda window cleaning cloths.
 
Back to the chauffeur: Hans Freudenberg shared his driver’s idea with the nonwoven developers: The principle was born, cleaning air with filters made of nonwoven fabric. From the first beginnings with filter mats in 1957, a global business has developed over the past six decades that has been in operation since 2009 as an independent company: Freudenberg Filtration Technologies.

Ready-to-use cassettes, HEPA filters, filter hoses and cartridges have gradually expanded the portfolio. Today, Freudenberg Filtration Technologies stands for comprehensive system solutions, for the engineering, the construction and operation of complete filtration systems – including an all-inclusive package of services with online monitoring and on-site service technicians.

Naturally, filter mats are still part of our portfolio today. Even if they assuredly have nothing left in common with the invention of the executive’s chauffeur – other than use of nonwoven material.

By the way: When it comes to cabin air filters, we are still a pioneer and at the same time number 1 on the market – but that is an entirely different story.

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