What is the most effective cleaning product?
What’s still on the shelf?
 
Those are the two questions that dominated consumers’ minds around the world when purchasing cleaning products during the pandemic. Panic buying drove outages and supply chain problems. Consumers reversed what had been a seemingly unstoppable trend toward sustainability, opting instead for any product that delivered a sense of agency over the virus. Most of all, consumers preferred familiar brands that they “trusted as having greater efficacy,” according to a February 2021 report from Euromonitor International.
 
And when they trusted, they opened their wallets. During the pandemic, “home care was among the very few industries that saw growth…albeit in deteriorating economic circumstances,” the Euromonitor International report found. The combination of seclusion at home and concern over health and safety drove abrupt, significant growth.


Sustainability x Efficacy
 
Industry experts don’t expect cleaning habits to return entirely to pre-crisis levels. We’ll still be cleaning more frequently, and we’ll still want products that work.
 
Still, insiders are already seeing a resurgence of interest in sustainability. It never really went away, and the resurgence doesn’t herald the end of efficacy-focused purchasing. Consumers won’t be willing to sacrifice one for the other, and while sustainability and efficacy used to be heavily dichotomous categories, and appeal to largely separate consumer bases, that’s no longer the case. These two areas must coexist, and brands that succeed over the next several years will be the ones who create formulations that offer both efficacy and sustainability.

Embracing the Trends
 
In a December 2020 Mintel survey, of internet users 18+ responsible for household care shopping:
• 44% said that an important packaging feature is that it’s easy to store.
• 32% said that an important packaging feature is that it’s easy to recycle.
• 30% said that an important packaging feature is that it’s refillable.
• 62% had used laundry pouches, 65% had used dishwasher pouches, 60% had used concentrated liquid surface cleaner, and 60% had used concentrated liquid bathroom cleaner, and 55% had used concentrated liquid disinfectant.
• Perhaps most importantly: 90% believe brands should take responsibility for the environmental impact of their packaging.
 
In a survey of nearly 2,000 consumers in the US, “older consumers of household products express more interest in refillable household cleaning products than younger consumers do.” [Mintel] Convenience could be a key factor here, as younger consumers have been shown to have increasingly high standards for speed when it comes to CPG and any customer experience. This is true of laundry and automatic dishwashing. However, there is still a sizable market that will find refillable hard surface cleaning products appealing.
 
Consumers are increasingly expecting performance in all three areas: sustainability, convenience and efficacy. There’s one key overlap between these areas: concentrates. Concentrates are manufactured with a significantly higher percentage of the active ingredients. In some cases, the product needs to be diluted by adding water at home. In others, the concentrated product is designed to work with an appliance as-is.
 

Concentrated Formulas 101

Concentrated solutions fall into two primary categories: solid and liquid. Within these categories, concentrated solutions can be available for consumers to measure (liquid or powder) or via a single-unit dose. Examples of single-unit dose include pressed solid tablets, formulas enclosed in water-soluble films, and formulas impregnated on dissolvable sheets. Each type of product has its own formulation considerations. Like all formulation, developing concentrates comes down to a balance between product stability, performance and other desired aesthetics.
 
Concentrates also pack a much lower carbon footprint via a lighter, smaller product that uses significantly less packaging and is much lighter, cheaper and more energy-efficient to transport.
 
A snapshot of the concentrate advantage:
• High-active products
• Less water
• Dilutable concepts
• Eco-friendly
• Less packaging
• Shipping-friendly
 
 
Concentration has been around for a long time but has experienced hockey stick growth. Between January 2005 and November 2020, there was a 1,000% increase in the introductions of liquid concentrates [Mintel GNPD]. However, concentrates are most notably associated with the laundry and dish categories, and concentrated hard surface cleaning products have not yet achieved the same level of success.
 
The dual post-pandemic demands of powerful cleaning and sustainability present an unprecedented opportunity for growth in the area of concentrated hard surface cleaning products. Demand is likely to start to create enough momentum to overcome the hurdles that have previously plagued this category.
 

Overcoming Hurdles for Concentrated Hard Surface Cleaning Products

Ease of use. In many arenas, consumers are opting for products and services that  remove  extra work from their day. Since many concentrated hard surface cleaners require adding in water at home, this could be considered cumbersome and something that requires more work. In an April 2021 study of 1914 US consumers, 62% strongly or somewhat agree that time-saving products are worth paying for (Mintel). Then again, consumers have repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to spend time on things that align with their values – and this is a matter of a few seconds. Delivering new formulations with better ingredients and new, user-friendly formats can capitalize on the growing demand for efficacy and sustainability. 
 
While refills have been an option for some time, they have struggled to gain traction. This is in part because of the extra steps involved and perceived hassle. However, having concentrated formulas available as a refill option has started to make an impact where traditional refills have not.
 
Consumer education. Teaching the public how to use concentrates in everyday cleaning is a substantial marketing task. For traditional retail, the smaller shelf space of concentrates carries a lot of benefits, but it can also impact visibility as well as perception of value. Brands can get creative with “master packaging” that is eye-catching and educates consumers on the value proposition.
 
Overall, consumer education may become more difficult as consumers move to e-commerce platforms and aren’t able to read on-shelf signage or review the entire package in-depth. Fresh, new marketing techniques aimed at consumer education are critical to drive conversion. All it takes is for one major brand to run an educational campaign. The good news: once they understand how to use a formulation, they don’t have to keep re-learning.
 
Efficacy. In the Mintel study, 72% of respondents strongly or somewhat agree that they take cleaning more seriously as a result of COVID-19. A concentrate is only as good as the ingredients included. A lesser-quality ingredient list will result in a lesser-quality final product, and for many consumers, lack of efficacy isn’t a trade they’ll make – even for the sake of a more sustainable product.
 
The solution: higher-quality ingredients. Concentrates can showcase powerhouse ingredients in a package that sustainability-focused consumers are willing to consider.
 
Dissolution. Since hard surface cleaning concentrates typically have to be diluted, they also need to be able to dissolve into or, in the case of liquid concentrates, mix with the water. For many formulations, warm water and agitation are both needed. If they don’t dissolve or mix in easily, they won’t work as well – and the consumer is likely to be frustrated. 
 
Brands embracing hard surface cleaning concentrates need to explore new formulations containing ingredients that dissolve and mix easily, to allow for limited effort on the consumer’s part. One opportunity may lie in water-soluble pouches, which have been extraordinarily successful in the dish and laundry spaces, particularly in contrast to liquid solutions that need to be measured. Water-soluble pouches purpose-built for hard surface cleaning applications – especially if they dissolve themselves and don’t require any additional steps – could solve a number of the hurdles presented here.
 
Stability. Product stability is different in concentrates and requires a different set of standards and storage guidelines, in addition to careful formulation design. For example, film-encased pouches that include solvents could experience a plasticizing effect, weakening or making the film brittle. That makes the pouches subject to potential rupture. 
 
For solid concentrates, water is a significant factor: with free-flowing solids (e.g. granules), exposure to water could lead to clumping and loss of flow. For packed solids, conversely, exposure to water has the opposite effect, driving dissolution and damaging the product integrity. Pressed tablets can benefit from binders such as polyethylene glycols (PEGS), Polyvinylpyrrolidinones (PVPs), EO/PO block copolymers, or even hi-EO containing solid alcohol ethoxylate nonionic surfactants to help products keep their shape.
 
The lack of water in liquid concentrates can also make formulation stability more challenging. Individual ingredients are higher in concentration and can reach individual solubility limits and/or experience incompatibility with other ingredients. Compatibilizers, like solvents, or alkyl alkoxylate hydrotropes, can be useful. 
 
Any time a company leans into a product line that requires different processing and storage techniques, there are hurdles to overcome – but there is now sufficient precedent in the laundry and dish category with lessons to be learned. 


Why This Matters: Planet x People x Profit

The demand for efficacy is easily explained in the wake of a crippling global pandemic. The return of demand for more sustainable products is worth a closer look. Concentrated water-soluble pouches and wrapped tablets cut down the amount of plastic and water involved in packaging and delivering products. Let’s look at the statistics: 

Plastics by the numbers [Euromonitor International]:
• Only 20% of plastic is actually recycled globally – and only 9% of plastic is recycled in the U.S.
• 95% of the investment made creating plastic packaging is lost after its first use.
• While polypropylene plastic is extremely common in detergent lids, bottles and measuring devices, only 1% of it is being recycled in countries like the U.S.
• Packaging accounts for 36% of plastic produced globally, and 60% of the E.U.’s plastic waste.
• Despite increasing awareness of the plastic problem, global plastic production value is projected to steadily increase over the next decade.
 

Sustainability isn’t the only reason brands should lean in to concentrated formulations. Euromonitor International reports that “the incremental value from converting a U.K. household from basic laundry and dishwashing detergent formats to premium PVOH tablets” is $35.00.
 
By offering the same amount of product in a smaller package, concentrated formulas also lend themselves well to ecommerce opportunities. Laundry has often lagged behind other online grocery/household staple purchases because the weight and size can make it prohibitively expensive to ship to consumers. Online shopping skyrocketed during the pandemic and is likely to stay above pre-pandemic levels., Concentrated formulas are conducive to capitalizing on this trend.
 
 
But Do They Work?
 
The short answer: yes. They work very well, given the right ingredients. Within the category of liquid concentrates, many surfactants, especially nonionics, are 100% active (e.g. alcohol ethoxylates and low-foaming alcohol alkoxylates). Within the category of solid concentrates, there are anionic surfactants that are nearly 100% active as powders or granules, like sodium lauryl sulfate.
 
Solid formulations can tee up a conflict: when anionic surfactants aren’t desired, formulators turn to nonionic alcohol ethoxylate surfactants that are optimal for cleaning – and tend to be liquid or pastes. With increasing degrees of ethoxylation, they become solids. More ethoxylation also leads to more hydrophilic character and less cleaning ability.  
 
To ensure surfactants can clean at fullest potential, water softening is advised. This is an important consideration, especially when asking consumers to dilute concentrates with their own water from home. To ensure performance is not affected by water hardness, chelators or other sequestrants are used. Chelators can be ~40-50% solutions or 75-100% active solids.  Examples of chelators include Ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) or Methylglycine diacetic acid (MGDA). Polymers can also be used for softening. Examples are polyacrylate homo or copolymers at 30-99% active level. 
 
Chelators carry additional benefits: in addition to water softening, chelators can provide a cleaning boost. 
 

Formula for the Future

The bottom line: at-home refill options, water-soluble pouches and other concentrated formulas are rising in popularity as a way to reduce footprint (both shelf space footprint and ecological footprint) without sacrificing efficacy. These previously incompatible priorities can be exceptionally compatible given the right formulations and packaging. 

As a product category, concentrates have significant growth potential to meet this dual demand. This is supported by numerous market dynamics, including the rise of e-commerce, concern over carbon footprint and plastic usage, and a desire for products that will keep consumers and their families safer amid new health fears.
 
If challenges are addressed, ingredient quality is high and cleaning performance delivers on expectations, concentrates could prove to the market that good things do come in small packages.



About the Authors
Art Sutton, PhD, is technical service specialist – Home Care, BASF Care Chemicals, North America. Kayleigh Foster is marketing manager – Home Care, BASF Care Chemicals, North America. For more information, visit https://hcii.basf.us or email [email protected]