Brooms, mops and brushes made in Arcola, Illinois since 1896
✅ Made in USA
Where Libman products are made
Arcola, Illinois
Libman moved into a converted red brick schoolhouse in Arcola in 1957 and has manufactured there ever since.
Vertically integrated
Injection molding, blow molding, fiber extrusion and steel tube fabrication were all pulled under one roof by 1980.
Zero waste
The Arcola operation has earned a Zero Waste Seal of Excellence for diverting its manufacturing waste from landfill.
Libman describes itself as an American-made cleaning tools company and manufactures its brooms, mops and brushes at its Arcola, Illinois campus. As with most housewares makers, certain accessory items and raw materials are sourced abroad, so check the individual product if country of origin matters to you.
The story
Libman started with a pushcart. William Libman left Lithuania for the United States in the 1890s, landed in Chicago, and began his life in the new world peddling sundries — everything from brooms to clothes. In 1896 he founded The Libman Company with a single mission: to make the finest, most durable wire-wound corn brooms in the country.
The brooms were good enough that during the Second World War the company built them to government specification, and Libman brooms cleaned the decks of aircraft carriers and troop ships in both the Atlantic and the Pacific.
The postwar boom pushed the company out of Chicago. In 1957 Libman moved into a converted red brick schoolhouse in Arcola, Illinois — still the address on the box today. Two of the founder’s grandsons, William and Robert, joined in the mid-1960s and bet heavily on making things themselves: injection molding, blow molding, fiber extrusion and steel tube fabrication. By 1980 all major production had been pulled under one roof, making Libman one of the largest vertically integrated housewares facilities in the country.
Five generations of the Libman family have now run the business, and the product line has grown from corn brooms to mops, brushes, sponges, buckets and cleaning solutions.
Why they matter
Cleaning tools are exactly the category that left. Brooms, mops and brushes are cheap, bulky and labor-intensive — the textbook profile for offshoring — and most of the aisle at a big-box store is imported. Libman went the other direction and spent decades buying molding presses, extruders and tube mills so it could keep making them in Illinois.
That vertical integration is the whole story. A company that extrudes its own fibers and fabricates its own steel handles is not one plane ticket away from moving production; it has a physical plant in a small Illinois town and a workforce that goes with it.
For a shopper, Libman is one of the easiest American-made swaps available: a broom or mop you can buy in an ordinary grocery store that was made about 150 miles south of Chicago.
Featured products
Browse Libman brooms, mops, brushes and cleaning tools available now in the Buy American store.
Frequently asked questions
Where are Libman products made?
At the company’s campus in Arcola, Illinois, where Libman has manufactured since 1957. Production is unusually vertically integrated — injection molding, blow molding, fiber extrusion and steel tube fabrication all happen on site.
Is Libman still family owned?
Yes. The Libman family has run the company since William Libman founded it in 1896, and it is now in its fifth generation.
How old is The Libman Company?
It was founded in 1896, which makes it more than 125 years old.
Is every Libman product made in the USA?
Libman markets itself as an American-made cleaning tools company and manufactures its core brooms, mops and brushes in Arcola. As with most housewares brands, some accessory items and raw materials are sourced abroad — check the individual product listing if origin matters to you.
