Catch up on all the cleaning trends. Read our household cleaning coverage from 2023 here.

 


Household cleaning isn’t typically high on consumers’ to-do lists. But the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) says they prefer the mop and bucket over filing taxes.

Now more than ever, consumers are getting hyped for spring cleaning and the idea of wiping the proverbial slate clean with a roll of paper towels and window cleaner. According to a 2024 National Cleaning Survey by ACI, as many 80% of spring cleaners would rather pick up their homes than sign income tax paperwork. This year, 52% of spring cleaners polled said they’re looking forward to organizing their spaces now more than in previous years. Twenty-two percent said the task takes less than a day, while the same percentage said they need about a week for a thorough cleaning.

Whatever the amount of time spent, 70% said they look forward to the sense of accomplishment cleaning brings—taking in, for example, the lemony scent of a freshly-sprayed room with the view of their polished hardwood floor’s shiny reflection. Indeed, 87% of survey respondents agreed having a clean home has a positive effect on their mental and physical well-being. Sixty-six percent of respondents received a mood boost after cleaning their home, with as many as 60% reported decreased levels of stress and anxiety living in a neat, orderly and clean space.

“We know that cleaning means so much more now than it used to,” said Brian Sansoni, ACI senior vice president of communication and outreach. “In everyday life, we see that cleaning is caring. We know that cleaning can contribute to our physical health, from washing our hands with soap and water, to properly cleaning and disinfecting to prevent the spread of germs that can make us sick. There is just something about having clean and organized spaces around us that puts a spring in our step.”

Cleaning As A Love Language

This clean lifestyle has a ripple effect on attraction – both on love for their partner and themselves. Per ACI, as many as 60% of people feel more attracted to their partner when they take the initiative to clean up. What’s more, 51% say having a spruced-up abode boosts their self-confidence and improves their functioning in terms of sharper focus to manage their time, get quality sleep, and even improve their personality and desire to be social.

An online survey consisting of more than 2,000 US adults conducted by The Harris Poll showed that two in five Americans perform a “quick tidy” to straighten up messy rooms involving light cleaning, from wiping down countertops, to a dusting furniture and running a vacuum. The survey was commissioned by Bona, which supplies products for installing, renovating, maintaining and restoring floors. Bona’s data found that over a third of Americans prefer cleaning their homes at the end of the day and over a quarter cleaned on certain designated days of the week or at certain times of the day.

While consumers may lament of lacking the time and energy to clean their homes, younger generations use cleaning as a vehicle to improve their mental health. By leveraging TikTok, they’re using hashtags like #SundayReset to document their experience with the so-called “Sunday Scaries” (fears of starting another work week) by channeling their unwell feelings into positive videos detailing their self-care routines. In doing so, they demonstrate their pride in tidying up their spaces to regain a sense of control over their feelings and attain mental clarity. Dreaded household cleaning tasks, such as cleaning the bathroom, get a designated day of the week to get the chore done, according to ACI. Zoomers and Millennials use mnemonic devices like “Toilet Thursdays” to remember to clean their toilets once a week, per Bona.

Per Circana data, the household cleaning market is currently valued at $4.5 billion in the US with a 4.6% increase from the year prior. The data encompasses grocery, drug, mass market, convenience, military and select club and dollar retailers in the last 52 weeks ending Feb. 25, 2024. Sales of all-purpose cleaner/disinfectant were $1.735 billion with an increase of 8.8% compared to last year. For a look at category sales, click here.

Household Cleaning and Nostalgia

Multi-purpose brand Fabuloso reportedly achieved the No. 1 market share position in the US according to the brand citing Nielsen data from 2019. In recent years, the brand teamed up with Hefty in the creation of scented trash bags. The partnership leveraged both brands’ biggest strengths: Hefty’s flair for handling waste and Fabuloso’s long-lasting fresh scents. The two-fold goal was aimed at enhancing product offerings and better catering to consumer needs, per company officials.

Fabuloso was founded in Venezuela in 1980 at a time when cleaning supplies lacked fragrance and distinction, according to an interview with a company representative. The brand saw a void in the market for a cleaning product that maintained its fresh scent hours after use. In three years, Fabuloso segued into Mexico. In 1996, Fabuloso entered the US market.

This year, the brand introduced a disinfectant that kills 99.9% of germs, including Influenza A virus and covid-19. Its introduction comes at a time when public awareness about cleanliness and hygiene are high after the pandemic. Fabuloso is owned by Colgate-Palmolive.

The brand added Multi-Purpose Cleaner, 2X Concentrated Formula in a new watermelon scent, too.

The cleaning brand is taking to social media with Sharon Garcia, a cleaning expert and CEO of Next Level Cleaning Co., as one of its biggest proponents.

“I can clean top-to-bottom counters, cabinet windows, mirrors, floors even furniture, baseboards and doorknobs!” Garcia told Happi. “[Fabuloso’s] new scent literally transports me to summer. And the pink color is just so vibrant and pretty.”

Besides the pleasant aroma, Garcia said the formula isn’t “gag”-inducing like other harsh-smelling cleaners she has used when she needs a lot of product for heavy duty chores like washing nicotine-stained walls, for instance.

For Garcia, Fabuloso was a cleaner her mom used. She recalled returning home to the delight of the “clean” scent after school.

“Coming home every day to a clean house and it [the family home] smelling like Fabuloso was such a highlight in my life,” she recalled. “As an adult, it really takes me back to how clean my mom was and how much she cleaned for us because she wanted us to come home to a clean space and worry about our homework.”

Speaking of motherly nostalgia, James Roberts’ eco-friendly cleaning solutions brand Nellie’s was named after his mom. Nellie’s, based in Vancouver, produces a range of household products including laundry, kitchen and bathroom cleaning solutions. All are biodegradable, phosphate-free and hypoallergenic, with plastic-free packaging.

In an interview, Roberts described his mother as the most “common sense-based, zero waste” proponent before “zero waste” was a fad in the household cleaning space. Russia-born Nellie Roberts emigrated to Canada in the 1970s. Her approach to proper housecleaning was minimalist: she wasn’t the keeper of a dozen purposeful cleaners beneath the kitchen sink. On the contrary, she washed windows with ammonia and water newspaper scraps. The result, recalled Roberts, was streak- and lint-free windows.

Nellie’s launched direct to consumer in 2008 with its first product, dryer balls. The venture, which he likened to a grassroots business, set up concessions and kiosks in carnivals where they sold cleaning products with a caricature of his mother cradling a basket of clean clothes. The products were a hit among buyers and retailers who appreciated their 1970s retro-feel, Roberts said. Another hit was Nellie’s Laundry Soda Concentrated Laundry Detergent. Made with four ingredients, the highly concentrated formula dissolves quickly in cold or hot water and is septic safe. In keeping with the brand’s sustainability commitment, the product is housed in a metal tine that is recyclable or can be repurposed.

“That was another part of our shtick that put us on the map with detergent,” he noted.

The indie homecare brand recently rolled out Dish Cubed, a zero waste, plant-based unit dose dishwasher detergent. The formula doesn’t rely on an outer PVA plastic shell typically found on traditional dishwasher pods. Dish Cubed’s biodegradable, septic-safe and phosphate-free formula cuts through grease, grime and food particles, according to the brand. Another Nellie’s innovation is Dish Butter. The semi-solid dishwashing soap is an alternative to liquid dish soap housed in a ceramic container that the brand touts is just as endearing as it is reusable.

Nellie’s is available at nelliesclean.com/nelliesclean.ca, London Drugs, Amazon, Well.ca, Canadian Tire, Costco, Walmart and traditional grocery stores. The brand hopes to one day have Nellie immortalized on every grocery store shelf.

“We’re getting there,” said Roberts.

Dishing Out the Dirt

Inflation helped propel dish detergent; sales rose 6.9% to $3.8 billion although units dropped 1%, according to Circana  (see chart).

Earlier this year, Procter & Gamble capitalized on Super Bowl LVIII—which drew a record-setting 123.4 million viewers– with a partnership with Dawn and NFL legend JJ Watt. As part of a campaign to tackle post-game cleanup, an “Ultimate Wash Party” involved the former defensive lineman for the Arizona Cardinals washing one lucky fan’s dishes with a giveaway of $1 million worth of Dawn Platinum EZ-Squeeze. The dish soap liquid’s fast-acting grease removal is aimed at washing soiled dishes for a fast and seamless clean, per marketers.

This past month, Mr. Clean debuted a new spin on its iconic Magic Erasers. New Ultra Foamy and Ultra Thick erasers combine the scrubbing power of a Magic Eraser and the cleaning power of Dawn to cut through grease without the elbow grease, per marketers. Ulta Foamy has two colored dots that produce foamy suds that work like tiny micro scrubbers to penetrate soils, resulting in 95% less scrubbing in the bath or shower, stovetop burnt and sink grime, according to the brand.

The Ultra Thick’s function is as its name implies: it’s designed 60% thicker than the original to last seven times longer than the original eraser.

Both erasers are available in Fresh and lavender scents.

Another P&G brand, Cascade, debuted its largest upgrade in a decade with Platinum Plus Pods. Following rigorous testing which involved 10 prototype formulations and 13,000 test pods, the new formula features 50% more protein-fighting enzymes to dissolve protein-rich foods—two times the amount of a new, proprietary enzyme—to fight stubborn starches. The goal, according to the brand, is to reduce the amount of time spent at the sink after cooking. According to results of a P&G survey, 57% of dishwasher users say they needed to rewash dishes; and as many as 86% said they prewash their dishes before loading them into the dishwasher. Consequently, the brand sought to create a formula that remedied this “broken” routine, per Guerin McClure, vice president, North America Dish Care, Procter & Gamble.

In a promotional campaign for the new dishwashing formula called “Dare to Dish Differently,” Cascade distributed 10 million Platinum Plus ActionPacs with a money-back guarantee on its “best clean yet.”

In other dish news, Palmolive partnered with TerraCycle last fall to recycle flexible packaging and caps. Beginning last November, the Palmolive Refill Free Recycling Program opened to any interested individual, school, office or community organization in the US.

Kevin Jordan-Deen, senior vice president, general manager of home and personal care North America at Colgate-Palmolive, said the brand is dedicated to preserving the environment and empowering people to live more sustainable lives with business decisions that reflect those commitments. Consumers signed up via the Palmolive Refill Free Recycling Program page and mailed in any brand of flexible dish soap refill packaging and caps using the prepaid shipping label from anywhere in the US. Once collected, the packaging and caps were cleaned and separated by material type and then recycled into raw formats that manufacturers use to make new products.

Colgate-Palmolive has lofty recycling goals. The company said it aims to eliminate the use of one-third of new plastics and make all plastic packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025. Colgate-Palmolive seeks to promote water stewardship and achieve net zero water at manufacturing sites in water-stressed areas by 2025 and across all sites by 2030.

Below the Surface Cleaners

The surface cleaning market is also booming. The global market, which currently stands at a valuation of $11.4 billion, is positioned to reach $18.75 billion by 2033 at a CAGR rate of 5.1% per Fact.MR.

EarthSafe created EvaClean Infection Prevention Solution used in several US hospitals. More recently, it launched Pur-One, a bleach-free cleaner and disinfectant to make “healthcare-level hygiene” accessible for homes, businesses and other non-medical facilities. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered cleaner kills covid, influenza, norovirus, staph, mold and Salmonella among others. It penetrates biofilms on surfaces that harbor potentially dangerous pathogens. PurOne’s Everyday Kit includes a spray bottle, microfiber cloth and cleaning tablets.

Plant-based household cleaning brand Seventh Generation’s Multi-Surface Cleaning Concentrate is a concentrated formula that cuts through grease, grime and dirt. The formula can be diluted to yield seven refills thereby reducing plastic by 75%.

The most-loathed chore on Yelp’s Top 10 Most Hated Chores list was tile and grout cleaning. It’s no wonder abrasive tub/tile cleaner saw a 3.2% decrease in revenues and non-abrasive tub/tile cleaner sales dropped 5.1%, per Circana. Units were also down for both.

Nearly a year ago, Mrs. Meyers rolled out a range of probiotic cleaners with garden-inspired scents. Available via Grove Collaborative, the products – inclusive of drain and daily shower cleaners, multi-surface cleaner and multi-surface concentrate—break down soils and stains with aim to penetrate nooks and crannies up to a week after scrubbing, the brand says. Mrs. Meyers is owned by SC Johnson.

To usher in spring cleaning season 2024, ACI launched a TikTok channel with online resources including a Spring Cleaning Plan and how-to’s on cleaning windows and appliances, in addition to offering solutions for home cleaning dilemmas and more at cleaninginstitute.org. 

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