Illustrated image of personified Colgate products packed in a box beside a confident toothpaste tube, with a white walking figure inspired by Colgate’s classic adverts.

Think Colgate and you probably think toothpaste.

But the company behind one of the world's best-known toothpaste brands has spent decades filling the rest of the bathroom too, and some of those familiar products may now be heading for new owners.

Colgate-Palmolive is reportedly considering selling several personal-care brands, including Softsoap, Irish Spring and Speed Stick, in a potential deal that could fetch more than US$1 billion.

Reuters reports that Colgate is working with Goldman Sachs to explore the possible sales. The process remains at an early stage, with both companies declining to comment and no buyer or transaction announced.

What makes the story interesting is how small those brands look beside the company that owns them.

Colgate-Palmolive recorded more than US$20 billion in worldwide sales last year. Personal care accounted for about 17% of the business, while oral care remains the powerhouse. In the first half of 2026, Colgate reported a 41.3% share of the global toothpaste market.

In other words, the toothpaste giant really is a toothpaste giant.

And that helps explain how recognisable brands can end up being considered for sale without necessarily being bad businesses.

Big consumer companies collect products over decades, but money, advertising and management attention are finite. Eventually they have to decide which brands deserve more investment and which might have a better future under someone else's roof.

Softsoap, Irish Spring and Speed Stick could still be valuable businesses while simply being less important to Colgate than the parts of its empire where it has greater scale or sees stronger opportunities.

Colgate itself has not said that is specifically why these brands are being considered for sale. For now, the possible divestments remain a Reuters report based on people familiar with the matter rather than a transaction announced by the company.

There is also some pressure coming from North America.

Colgate's overall second-quarter results were solid, with worldwide net sales rising 4.9% to US$5.36 billion. North America went the other way, with organic sales falling 3% and organic volume declining 3.9%.

Chief executive Noel Wallace has acknowledged tougher competition in the region and described improving the North American business as a longer-term job.

None of that proves weaker North American sales prompted Colgate to consider selling Softsoap, Irish Spring or Speed Stick, and the company has made no such connection. But it does provide useful context for why management might be particularly selective about where it puts money and attention.

Colgate would not be unusual in taking that approach. Large consumer companies regularly sell brands that no longer sit at the centre of their plans so they can concentrate resources elsewhere.

For now, though, the toothpaste is still firmly in the tube.

Softsoap, Irish Spring and Speed Stick remain Colgate-Palmolive brands. There is no announced buyer, no completed transaction and no certainty that a sale will happen.

But if Colgate does decide to squeeze, more than US$1 billion could be waiting at the other end.