What Barton Solvents does

Barton Solvents, Inc. is a family-owned, privately held chemical distribution company founded in 1938 by Bud Barton in Des Moines, Iowa and headquartered there. The company distributes industrial chemicals, solvents, oils, surfactants, plasticizers, resins, and specialty products (including food-grade mineral oils, USP/FCC grade chemicals, and Kosher-certified products) sourced from major producers such as Dow Chemical, Eastman Chemical, and LyondellBasell. It operates across six facility locations serving 13 states in the Upper Midwest via an owned fleet of more than 100 delivery units, offering Just-In-Time delivery, keep-fill inventory, custom blending, custom packaging, vendor managed inventory, hazardous waste transportation, and contract warehousing.

The company's core technology stack is physical rather than digital: an in-house laboratory performs QA/QC testing against customer requirements and standards including ASTM, ACS, military, and USP specifications, equipped with Karl Fischer titrators, gas chromatographs, FTIR spectrometers, viscosity and flash point testers, and related chemistry instrumentation. IT/digital assets are not disclosed; there is no mobile app and no public API or SDK referenced in source data. The BARSOL tradename functions as the company's primary brand asset across these offerings.

Barton Solvents generates revenue through B2B transaction-based product distribution augmented by professional-services revenue streams for value-added offerings (custom blending, private labeling, formulation assistance, regulatory compliance support, recycling, and logistics planning). Pricing is quote-based on volume, specification, and delivery requirements and is not publicly disclosed. The customer base spans thousands of industrial accounts across multiple horizontal segments — food industry (treated as the primary use-case segment), industrial manufacturing, coatings and adhesives, oil and gas, printing, and HVAC. The company is ISO 9001:2015 certified, ACD/NACD verified, Kosher-certified across all products and locations, and BBB-accredited.

Name

Barton Solvents

Legal name

Barton Solvents, Inc.

Website

https://barsol.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1938

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Barton Solvents is a family-owned chemical distributor founded in 1938 in Des Moines, Iowa, distributing industrial chemicals, solvents, oils, surfactants, and specialty products from major producers to thousands of customers across 13 Upper Midwest states via six facilities and a 100+ vehicle delivery fleet.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Chemical Distribution

NAICS

Chemical and Allied Products Merchant Wholesalers (4246), Other Chemical and Allied Products Merchant Wholesalers (42469)

SIC

Wholesale-Chemicals & Allied Products (5160)

akta.pro primary industry

Plasticizers & Solvents (Phthalates/Alternatives, Commodity Solvents) (IMAEADAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Bulk Industrial Solvents (IMAEAAAE), Commodity Surfactants & Detergent Base Chemicals (IMAEAAAI)

Keywords

• Industrial chemical distribution
• Solvents and chemicals
• Specialty chemical supply
• Bulk chemical logistics
• Custom chemical blending

Headquarters

HQ city

Des Moines

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Chemical Product Distribution: Distribution of solvents, chemicals, oils, surfactants, resins, and specialty products from major chemical producers. Products sold range from five-gallon pails to full transport loads. Revenue generated through product sales with value-added services including custom blending, technical support, and logistics.
2. Value-Added Services: Additional revenue streams from services including custom packaging, custom blending, returnable containers, vendor managed inventory, hazardous waste transportation, recycle and return programs, logistics planning, EDI/EFT, customer training, private labeling, formulation assistance, bar coding, contract warehousing, regulatory compliance assistance, and vendor consolidation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Barton Solvents is a wholesale chemical distributor that sources industrial solvents, chemicals, oils, surfactants, resins, ethyl alcohols, and specialty chemical products from major producers including Dow, Eastman, and LyondellBasell, and resells them in quantities ranging from five-gallon pails to full transport loads. The company delivers these chemicals using its own fleet of 100+ vehicles from six branch locations to customers across 13 states in the Upper Midwest, complemented by value-added services such as custom blending, custom packaging, vendor managed inventory, hazardous waste transportation, formulation assistance, and in-house laboratory QA/QC testing.

Product overview

Barton Solvents is a chemical distribution company that operates as a single unified business offering chemical products through multiple product families and value-added distribution services. The core products are sold under the BARSOL tradename and organized into product families: Solvents and Chemicals (aliphatics, aromatics, alcohols, esters/acetates, ketones, glycols, glycol ethers, glycol ether esters), Oils (dust suppressant oils, industrial lube oils, metal working oils, process oils, vegetable oils, white oils), Ethyl Alcohols (government formulas, proprietary formulas, pure ethyl alcohol, SDA formulas), Surfactants (amphoteric, anionic, blends/mixtures, cationic, nonionic), Resins (curing agents, diluents, epoxy resins), and Specialty Products (amines, glycerines, heat transfer fluids, plasticizers, polyglycols, silicones). Industry-specific solutions are provided through marketing brochures for Food Industry, Gas Pipeline Industry, HVAC Industry, Oil Products, Printing Industry, and Surfactants and Specialty Products. Value-added services include laboratory testing, hazardous waste transportation, just-in-time delivery, custom blending, EDI/EFT capabilities, and regulatory compliance assistance. The company sources products from major chemical producers and distributes to customers in 13 states from six locations in the Upper Midwest.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Solvents and Chemicals Distribution of aliphatics, aromatics, alcohols, esters/acetates, ketones, glycols, glycol ethers, and glycol ether esters sourced from major producers and sold to industrial customers in package sizes ranging from five-gallon pails to full transport loads.
• Oils

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• TransCaerminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with TransCaer (Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response) for hazardous materials training education. Fire departments and Hazmat teams from across Iowa participated in TransCaer tours to learn about hazmat transportation equipment and safety features.
• Chemical Education Foundation (CEF)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity outreach partnership supporting chemical safety education. Barton Solvents provided 'You Be the Chemist' chemistry kits to recent college graduates going into elementary education. CEF provides bulletins for business and personal use on handling chemicals safely.
• Dow ChemicalcoreOthersMajor supplier and chemical producer providing products under the BARSOL tradename. Products include silicones, plasticizers, and specialty chemicals.
• Eastman ChemicalcoreOthersKey supplier of chemical products distributed by Barton Solvents.
• LyondellBasellcoreOthersMajor chemical producer supplying products through Barton Solvents' distribution network.
• National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD)coreOthersVerified member of NACD, the trade association representing the chemical distribution industry. NACD verification certificate demonstrates compliance with responsible distribution practices.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Hydrite Chemical: Family-owned regional chemical manufacturer and distributor based in Wisconsin with significant Upper Midwest presence. Direct overlap with Barton in industrial solvents and specialty chemicals, and similar private, relationship-driven operating model.
• Hawkins, Inc. US specialty chemical distributor with operations including water treatment and industrial chemicals. Comparable business model blending bulk distribution with value-added services, though Hawkins operates at greater scale and is publicly traded.
• Superior Solvents: Independent chemical distributor of solvents and specialty chemicals serving Midwestern US industrial customers. Closely comparable regional competitor with similar product lines and customer profile to Barton's industrial manufacturing segment.
• Chemsolv: Regional chemical distributor serving Mid-Atlantic and Midwest markets with industrial solvents, cleaners, and specialty chemicals. Overlaps with Barton in serving industrial manufacturers with similar bulk and packaged distribution services.
• International Chemical Corp (ICC Chemical): Independent chemical distributor of solvents and specialty chemicals with distribution and warehousing operations across the US. Direct overlap in solvent distribution to industrial customers with comparable Just-In-Time delivery capabilities.

Others

• Chemical Distribution Alliance Members (NACD regional distributors): Industry trade association of which Barton is a verified member, representing peer independent regional chemical distributors operating under similar Responsible Distribution verification standards.

Broad incumbents

• Brenntag: Global market leader in chemical distribution with operations across the Americas. Competes with Barton in industrial solvents, surfactants, and specialty chemicals, particularly for large national accounts that could otherwise route through a regional Midwest distributor.
• Univar Solutions: Large publicly-traded chemical distributor serving industrial and specialty chemical customers across North America. Overlaps with Barton in solvent, surfactant, and specialty chemical distribution but operates at national/international scale with much broader product portfolio.
• Vinmar International: Global chemical and polymer distributor with US operations handling industrial chemicals and downstream products. Overlaps with Barton in industrial solvent and chemical distribution but at substantially larger international scale.

Regional players

• Schaefer's: Specialty chemical and ingredient distributor serving the food, personal care, and industrial markets. Comparable in Kosher and food-grade certified product distribution capabilities to Barton's food industry segment.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

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• Instagraminstagram.com/bartonsolvents
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/barton-solvents-inc.

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Barton Solvents