Kleenex Gas Masks

Kleenex tissues were originally intended for gas masks.

There was a cotton shortage during World War I, when cotton was needed more for bandages and field dressings.

Kimberly-Clark developed a thin, flat cotton substitute,originally called Cheesecloth UGG, that the army tried to use as a filter in gas masks. 

When the war ended the company redeveloped it to be smoother and softer, then marketed Kleenex as facial tissue instead.