About Us

Happy Hand Cleaning Products have been in existence for over 30 years. Sometime in the early 1980s Mervyn Shmyr started experimenting with creating different cleaning products in his garage. 

Merv had the pioneering spirit that comes from being raised on a farm in the Canadian prairies of Manitoba. He was fiercely independent, self-reliant and always inventing something.

In the early 80s he came across the idea to create a natural non-toxic biodegradable product capable of cleaning oil sludge out of pipelines. After a great deal of trial and error, he created a formula to do exactly that! But a byproduct of the formula was that it was excellent at removing grease from all sorts of things. And thus the product named "MP1" (Multi-purpose 1) was born.

His formula was especially popular with offset printing companies in removing printer ink from the hands of printing technicians.

Merv eventually developed the MP3 and MP4/MPBG (Now known simply as 'Happy Hand Classic') formulas specifically as hand cleaning products. One of his most revolutionary ideas was to substitute the "botanical grit" of (seeds, walnut shells or waste plant fiber) for pumice.

The breakthrough of Botanical Grit makes Happy Hand Cleaner just as, if not more, effective than highly coarse and harsh volcanic ash pumice and silica based cleaners. The Botanical Grit acts as an abrasive to remove grime lodged in the crevices of the user's skin. Our products also leave your hands feeling soft and smooth.

For over 30 years Merv traveled across the prairies in his "Hand Cleaner Express" van selling his products to print shops, bicycle shops, mechanics, glass shops and hundreds of other businesses. He believed that Happy Hand Cleaner was a superior solution to the grit and grime for working hands.

On April 13, 2017 nearly 40 years after creating his original formula, Merv passed away peacefully surrounded by his family at the age of 74. The company continues on under the ownership of his nephew, Greg Raber.

We continue to manufacturer all Happy Hand Cleaning Products locally in Alberta following Merv's formulas and techniques.

Here's to 30 more years of success providing the very best all-natural cleaning products to the world!