# Wofacutan ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Founded | 1953 | | Origin | Germany | | Headquarters | Bitterfeld-Wolfen | | Status | Active | | Distribution | Multi-channel | | Website | https://wofacutan.de/ | Wofacutan is a German range of washing and skin-care products for sensitive, dry and stressed skin. It is made by a disinfection and hygiene company based in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, and covers soap-free body washes, a shampoo and a small set of lotions and creams, two of them with urea. Its owner presents the line as a companion to its disinfection business: care for skin that is worn down by frequent washing, disinfectants or allergies. The brand belongs to the KESLA group, whose history leads back to the chemical works at Wolfen in the former East Germany. The legal notice on the brand's website names KESLA HYGIENE AG as the company behind it, while the site footer and pharmacy listings name Kesla Pharma Wolfen GmbH as the manufacturer [2][9]. Wofacutan is active and sold through its own web shop and through online pharmacies. ## History & milestones The company history published by KESLA begins with the Farbenfabrik Wolfen, a dye works that belonged to IG Farben until 1945. After the Second World War the site became part of the East German economy, and from 1979 to 1991 it ran as the Wolfen plant of the Bitterfeld chemical combine. Its best-known product from that period was Wofasteril, a disinfectant based on peracetic acid that has been made in Wolfen since 1972. According to KESLA, the name became shorthand for the substance itself in the GDR [6]. After German reunification, a small group of chemists from the plant's research department set up their own firm. KESLA CHEMIE GMBH was entered in the commercial register on 14 June 1991. A first attempt to privatise the business failed; the second succeeded, and the privatisation contract was signed in March 1993. The company took the name KESLA PHARMA WOLFEN GMBH in 1996. Three years later, all marketing, sales and service activities were moved into a separate company, KESLA HYGIENE AG. In 2004 the group was placed in the hands of foundations, and in the same year it opened a training academy for applied hygiene, the Fachakademie für angewandte Hygiene. Wofacutan's own place in this timeline is less clearly marked. Its owner does not publish a dated history of the range, but an online pharmacy describes the Medicinal wash lotion as having proved itself over five decades [10]. ## Ownership Two company names appear around the brand, and both are accurate. The legal notice on the Wofacutan website, dated February 2021, names KESLA HYGIENE AG, a public limited company registered at the district court in Stendal, with Birgit Schreiner as its management board [2]. The homepage footer of the same site instead names Kesla Pharma Wolfen GmbH and links to that company's LinkedIn page, and pharmacy listings give Kesla Pharma Wolfen GmbH as the manufacturer [1][9]. KESLA's own account explains the split. Kesla Pharma Wolfen GmbH is the original company, renamed in 1996, while KESLA HYGIENE AG is the 1999 spin-off that handles marketing, sales and service. In practice, one group company is named as the maker and the other operates the brand's shop. The most significant change of ownership came at group level. In 2004 KESLA was transferred into foundations, with 70 % of the shares going to the Schreiner-Stiftung für Forschung und Bildung, a foundation for research and education [6]. No separate sale or transfer of the Wofacutan brand is documented. Within the group, Wofacutan is the only cosmetics line. KESLA lists it as its "medicinal cosmetics" area, next to the Wofasteril, Wofasept and Alcapur disinfection and cleaning ranges sold to agriculture, food processing, healthcare and disaster management. ## Philosophy & positioning The brand's tagline is "Sanfte Pflege für sensible Haut", German for "gentle care for sensitive skin". KESLA says it developed the care series to complement disinfection and to look after skin under strain. The company describes the products as pH-neutral to the skin and suitable for people with allergies [7]. A short list of exclusions runs through the whole range. For each of its seven washing and care products, the owner states that no perfume, colourants or parabens are added. Independent retailers describe the line in similar terms. The Austrian branch of Shop Apotheke, an online pharmacy, writes that the products are meant to make body and facial care easier for people with skin conditions, and that allergy sufferers and people with sensitive skin generally tolerate them well [9]. Its German product page for the wash lotion adds that dermatologists recommend it alongside treatment for skin problems, and that it is used in baby care [10]. ## Products & innovation The washing products form the core of the range. The Medicinal Waschlotion (wash lotion) and the Medicinal Waschgel (wash gel) are both described by KESLA as mild, soap-free cleansers for the whole body. A foam-dispenser bottle is made specifically for refilling with the wash lotion. The Haarshampoo, according to the company, also suits oily scalps and dandruff. The care products are built around urea, vitamin E and jojoba oil. The Pflegelotion contains 2 % urea and the Feuchtigkeitslotion (moisturising lotion) 12 %. Two creams complete the line: the Pflegecreme, which KESLA says protects sensitive and allergy-stressed skin, and the Feuchtigkeitscreme, which it describes as calming dry, flaky and itchy skin. The same shop also sells Wofaclean, a hand dishwashing liquid that KESLA markets as a mild option for irritated and sensitive skin. It carries the owner's other brand name rather than Wofacutan, as do the Wofasept hand and surface disinfectants offered alongside. One detail of the wash lotion's formula is unsettled. The German Shop Apotheke page lists its ingredients as water, sodium laureth sulfate, sulfated castor oil, citric acid and "Parfum" [10]. The same page calls the product free of fragrant additives, and KESLA states that no perfume is added. Which version reflects the current formula is not clear from published information. No third-party certifications are documented for Wofacutan products. At company level, KESLA holds ISO 9001 quality certification and says it was the first chemical company in Saxony-Anhalt to join the EU register for audited environmental management [6]. ## Current status Wofacutan is active. As of 2026 its web shop lists the full range, carries a holiday-season delivery notice and shows a 2026 copyright line [1]. The brand is sold mainly in the German-speaking market, through its own German-language shop and online pharmacies. Its public presence is modest: there is no dedicated history page, and KESLA's news page focuses on disinfection, hygiene and animal health rather than on the cosmetics line. ## Timeline {#belagg-timeline} | Year | Event | Source | |---|---|---| | 1953 | Farbenfabrik Wolfen's scientific-pharmaceutical department commissioned by the GDR health ministry to develop a medical washing preparation (retailer brand page; development reportedly took one year). | https://www.shop-apotheke.at/marken/wofacutan | | 1991 | Owner company: a small group of chemists from the plant research of the former Wolfen works founded KESLA CHEMIE GMBH (registered 14 June 1991, Amtsgericht Hof/Saale). | https://www.kesla.de/startseite-3/unternehmen/ | | 1993 | Owner company: privatisation contract signed in March 1993 after a second privatisation attempt. | https://www.kesla.de/startseite-3/unternehmen/ | | 1996 | Owner company renamed KESLA PHARMA WOLFEN GMBH. | https://www.kesla.de/startseite-3/unternehmen/ | | 1999 | KESLA HYGIENE AG created as a spin-off of all marketing, sales and service activities. | https://www.kesla.de/startseite-3/unternehmen/ | | 2004 | Owner company transferred into foundations; 70 % of shares to the Schreiner-Stiftung für Forschung und Bildung. Fachakademie für angewandte Hygiene founded the same year. | https://www.kesla.de/startseite-3/unternehmen/ | | 2004 | Owner company (KESLA) transferred into foundations, with 70 % of shares going to the Schreiner-Stiftung für Forschung und Bildung (company-level ownership change; no separate Wofacutan transaction documented). | https://www.kesla.de/startseite-3/unternehmen/ | ## Signature products {#belagg-products} - **Wofacutan® Medicinal Waschlotion** — für die milde und seifenfreie Reinigung des gesamten Körpers. — https://www.kesla.de/startseite-3/medicinalcosmetik/ - **Wofacutan® Medicinal Waschgel** — für die milde und seifenfreie Reinigung des gesamten Körpers. — https://www.kesla.de/startseite-3/medicinalcosmetik/ - **Wofacutan® Feuchtigkeitslotion** — mit Vitamin E, Jojobaöl und 12 % Urea — https://www.kesla.de/startseite-3/medicinalcosmetik/ - **Wofacutan® Pflegelotion** — mit Vitamin E, Jojobaöl und 2 % Urea — https://www.kesla.de/startseite-3/medicinalcosmetik/ - **Wofacutan® Haarshampoo** — ideal auch bei fettiger Kopfhaut und Schuppenbildung. — https://www.kesla.de/startseite-3/medicinalcosmetik/ ## Key ingredients {#belagg-ingredients} Urea (2 % / 12 %) · Vitamin E · Jojoba oil Source: https://www.kesla.de/startseite-3/medicinalcosmetik/ ## Sources 1. (T1) https://wofacutan.de/ 2. (T2) https://wofacutan.de/impressum/ 6. (T2) https://www.kesla.de/startseite-3/unternehmen/ 7. (T2) https://www.kesla.de/startseite-3/medicinalcosmetik/ 9. (T4) https://www.shop-apotheke.at/marken/wofacutan 10. (T4) https://www.shop-apotheke.com/beauty/2215265/wofacutan-medicinal-waschlotion.htm --- Glowpedia · · Published 2026-10-06 Please cite with a link to the article URL.