SOLIFORM

SOLIFORM is a German company based in Essen that makes a single product: Soli-Chlorophyll-Öl S 21, a blend of plant oils known to its users simply as "Soli-Öl". The formula goes back to 1939, when it was developed by Erich Reinecke, a state-recognised lay healer, while the company that now carries the name, SOLIFORM Erich Reinecke GmbH, was founded in early 1991 [10].

The oil is sold as a household remedy for body care, used for rubbing into the skin, inhaling, adding to baths and sauna infusions, and scenting rooms. It reaches consumers through pharmacies rather than through the company's own shop, and SOLIFORM says it has deliberately never added a second product to the range [12].

Erich Reinecke practised in Essen in the 1930s as a state-recognised Heilkundiger, a lay healer roughly equivalent to the present-day German Heilpraktiker, or non-medical practitioner of natural medicine. According to the company's own history, he worked with pure essential oils long before terms such as aromatherapy were in common use.

In 1939 he developed the herbal oil blend that became Soli-Chlorophyll-Öl S 21. The company says it proved especially popular among miners in the Ruhr region, who used it for breathing and joint complaints [10]. Demand grew, the blend picked up the nickname "Soli-Öl", and Reinecke himself became known locally as the "Solimann".

Reinecke ran the business alone into old age. Only in early 1991 did he find a successor, Karin Ziegler, who came from among his own customers. Together they founded SOLIFORM Erich Reinecke GmbH, with Ziegler as managing director [10]. Reinecke died in November 1991 at the age of 92. Ziegler is still named as managing director in the company's legal notice [11].

The path from a single practitioner's remedy to a nationally distributed product was gradual. In the 1950s Reinecke gave up his naturopathic practice to devote himself entirely to making and selling the oil. It was first offered at weekly markets across the Ruhr area, where Reinecke often appeared in person and talked to customers about natural healing.

As word spread, orders began to arrive from across Germany, and Reinecke started sending the oil out by post. Health-product dealers and the first pharmacies also took it on. After the founding of the GmbH, Ziegler expanded sales through pharmacies. Today, the company says, it supplies all pharmaceutical wholesalers in Germany, which in turn stock pharmacies; it ships directly only to selected retailers and, on request, to medical, naturopathic and therapy practices [10].

The company's address is Oberstraße 73a in Essen, and it is registered at the Essen district court. A German online pharmacy lists SOLIFORM Erich Reinecke GmbH at the same address as the manufacturer of the product [8].

### Counterfeit warnings

In January 2024 SOLIFORM published a warning that counterfeit Soli-Öl from China was being sold by third-party marketplace sellers on Amazon, often under names suggesting a pharmacy and at prices below those of established retailers [9]. The company described the goods as cheap imitations of doubtful origin and listed what it saw as errors in the marketplace listing, including a retouched photograph of a 50 ml bottle offered as the 100 ml size and a scent given misleadingly as "lavender".

In the same notice SOLIFORM stated that it still produces in Germany, does not export outside Europe and has no business relationships with China or other Asian countries [9]. It advised buyers to avoid marketplace platforms and to purchase from pharmacies or from the online shops of established retailers. The warning was repeated in January 2025.

SOLIFORM presents itself as a one-product company by conviction rather than by accident. Asked what else it makes, the company answers that it makes only Soli-Chlorophyll-Öl S 21, describing Reinecke's recipe as an all-rounder for everyday ailments and arguing that this makes further products unnecessary [12].

Continuity sits at the centre of the brand's self-description. SOLIFORM states that it still makes the oil to Reinecke's original recipe and says the formula has been unchanged in composition and quality for more than 80 years [1]. It describes the oil as 100 per cent naturally pure and vegan, and says it contains no added water, paraffin, turpentine, alcohol or synthetic additives.

The company's homepage gathers its uses under three words, lockern, lösen and entspannen (loosen, release and relax), and frames the oil as something that helps the body help itself. Section headings such as "Die Kraft der Natur" ("the power of nature") and "Eine Wohltat für Körper, Geist und Seele" ("a boon for body, mind and soul") set the tone. In its legal notice the company adds that the information it gives consists of descriptions based on its own experience, does not refer to any specific case of use, and cannot be used as the basis for claims [11].

Soli-Chlorophyll-Öl S 21 is sold in 100 ml and 50 ml bottles. According to the company, it is a carefully balanced mixture of 21 herbal oils. Eighteen of these are essential oils: orange, eucalyptus, rosemary, peppermint, anise, lavender, sage, clove, juniper berry, lemon balm, thyme, fennel, wormwood, caraway, chamomile, parsley seed, calamus and celery seed. The remaining three are additions of a mistletoe oil solution, a chlorophyll oil solution and wheat germ oil. The chlorophyll component gives the product its name.

SOLIFORM does not distil the plants itself. It explains that fresh plants should be distilled where they grow, since too much of the volatile oil would otherwise be lost in transport. The company also notes that the scent and colour of the finished oil can vary slightly from batch to batch. It attributes this to the use of unprocessed natural oils, comparing the effect to differences between wine harvests; the depth of colour depends largely on the orange oil interacting with the chlorophyll. Because only small amounts are needed, often a single drop, the company says the oil lasts a long time.

The suggested uses are wide. The company recommends it for massaging tired muscles after sport, rubbing into joints and stiff shoulders, foot baths, full baths, sauna infusions, evaporation in an aroma lamp and as a mouth rinse diluted in water. For skin care it suggests mixing one part of the oil with four to five parts of a good cooking oil as a personal skin oil, and dabbing small blemishes with the undiluted oil. A bath recipe on its site, inspired by the legend of Cleopatra bathing in milk, combines cream or milk, cooking oil, honey and twelve drops of the blend.

Some of the company's descriptions go beyond care. It says that evaporating the blend reduces the number of germs in the air and so the risk of infection, and that during meditation or yoga it helps energy flow more freely [1]. These statements come from the company itself; no clinical studies supporting them are cited on its website. No third-party certifications are documented for the product.

SOLIFORM is active. The oil continues to be distributed through pharmaceutical wholesalers to pharmacies, and it was still listed by a German online pharmacy in October 2026 [8]. The company's most recent visible activity is the January 2025 update of its website, when the counterfeit warning was reissued. As of October 2026 the public website displayed a maintenance notice, and no new products or announcements had appeared in the preceding year.