A Clean Home Feels Good

When it comes to connecting with consumers on cleaning, in spring or any season, that end result is key. How does it look? And most important, how does having a clean home feel? Given how critical wellness—especially mental and emotional—is to consumers today, it’s an important connection to make.

Even Melissa Maker, an online cleaning authority @CleanMySpace, is the first to admit she’s not a big fan of cleaning. But she’s long recognized the positive effects having a clean home has had on her wellbeing.  So, in 2011, she set out to help others with tips and information to make household cleaning easier and faster.

“When I walk into a home – whether it’s mine or someone else’s – that’s messy or cluttered, I feel overwhelmed. I can’t relax,” she says. “But walking into a place that’s clean and tidy, you get a totally different vibe. (Having a clean home) also elicits a sense of pride.”

That connection is definitely important to make in a challenging economic landscape when many people are being more selective about how they spend their discretionary income.

“There’s a lot of financial instability right now for the average consumer,” says Maker. For that reason, she believes it’s important for makers and sellers of cleaning products to acknowledge this in their marketing. Sellers can communicate they ‘get it’ by offering money-saving options like private label or value lines, as well as creative sales or promotions like a BOGO you can share with a friend.

Other Ways to Connect with Consumers

• Make It Fun – Sure, there are people who find the act of cleaning soothing or a good way to blow off steam. But for the many others who find it boring, there’s a huge opportunity to liven things up a little. From monthly cleaning challenges to inspirational music, make sure your marketing and messaging is fueling motivation and joy. Social media is a prime place to bring on the fun; on TikTok, the three most popular communities in the home space have to do with cleaning (#CleanTok, #Clean, #Cleaning).

• Make It Pretty – Visually appealing products also inject some joy into the home cleaning process. Trending colors and patterns will stand out against other utilitarian products and motivate consumers.

• Make it Eco-Friendly – Using eco-friendly materials or responsible manufacturing processes can also make your product stand out. Not all consumers will be able to pay more for these options, but they will likely choose an eco-friendly option if it’s the same price as another.

Market Opportunities

The HomePage News 2023 Consumer Outlook Survey revealed several types of cleaning products that are likely to be top-of-mind for consumers this year. Respondents said they were most likely to purchase the following products in 2023 for a clean home:

• Cleaning Tools – Brooms (50%), mops (47%), cleaning tools that use disposable cloths or pads (41%), and handheld brushes/scrubbers (35%). (Could select all that applied.)

• Floor Care Electrics – Steam cleaners (30%) and hand-held vacuums (29%).

• Home Environment – Air purifiers (47%), humidifiers (35% – a four-point gain from last year), water filters (34%), portable fans (27%), and portable heaters (22%).

Maker says she sees home air care products continuing in popularity in the near future. After everyone learned so much about the importance of good air quality during the pandemic, “We can’t unsee it or unknow it,” she comments. “And it’s such an easy fix.”

Access the HomePage News 2023 Consumer Outlook Survey—commissioned in partnership with the International Housewares Association—for more insights on cleaning tools and 17 other home and housewares categories.