Chlorine chemistry did not exist on a commercial scale until the early 20th Century. Even then, only limited production took place until World War I, when chlorine and related chemicals were used as weapons. After World War II, the chemical industry sought new markets for chlorine-based products, and chlorine production expanded rapidly, doubling each decade. Now, the chemical industry produces about 40 million tonnes of chlorine annually.

PVC is an organochlorine which was first patented in 1913 by Fritz Klatte as the first synthetic product although its development was hindered by pure PVC's thermal instability and its low workability.

During the 1930's chlorine was available in large amounts in Germany after Hermann Goering's staff devised the Fibrous Materials Program that was supposed to make Germany independent of imported cotton in case of war. This program concentrated on the production of rayon and to this end large amounts of caustic soda from the chlor-alkali industry were needed. It was found that fibres could be made from PVC after years of experimenting with stabilizers, lubricants and softeners and PVC fibres also had the added bonus of using up the excess chlorine produced by the expanded chlor-alkali industry.

Within a few years PVC became the most important mass synthetic material in Germany apart from polyethylene. The 1950's were characterized by the odour of the softeners in the PVC.