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Household Wipes: Looking For The Next Clean Sweep



economic woes, market maturity and a slackening in new product introductions are just some of the challenges facing wipes in household segments



By Karen McIntyre
Editor




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Five years ago, the household wipes market seemed unstoppable. Procter & Gamble continued to expand its Swiffer cleaning brand with new product introductions, creating new categories for cleaning seemingly overnight. At the same time, sales of all-purpose cleaning wipes continued to soar as niche products like toilet cleaning wipes, glass cleaning wipes and stainless steel cleaning cloths rolled out, meeting consumers’ insatiable need for products designed to make their lives easier.

In just a handful of years, the market for household cleaning wipes zoomed from nearly nothing to more than $1 billion and everyone was looking for a piece of this action. New spunlace lines ramped up in the U.S. and beyond and it seemed converters of wipes were popping up out of nowhere. Wipes not only created a new opportunity for household cleaning companies looking for new ways to boost profits, they gave nonwovens a front-row seat in the lives of consumers.

As 2009 begins, the market for household wipes is not so bright. The world is undergoing an economic crisis of unprecedented proportion that has forced consumers to tighten their belts. At the same time, the wipes market has gone a couple of years without the introduction of a huge blockbuster product, like Swiffer, to propel sales. Today, most wipes users have been using them for a while and the market has done little to reel in new users. Add to this severe pricing pressure from the private labels and you have a pretty tough business environment for the household wipes market.

Despite this, major household goods companies continue to innovate, hoping to create a product with the right combination of features to woo consumers. For instance, in 2008 Procter & Gamble introduced Mr. Clean disinfectant wipes with Febreze freshness. With a towel-like texture for strong scrubbing power, these wipes contain the refreshing scent of P&G’s Febreze deodorizer.

Meanwhile, Clorox, who first entered the disinfectant wipes category in 1999 and has since been a leader in that category, has launched a biodegradable wipe to its Green­Works line of environmentally-sensitive cleaning products. Additionally, at the niche level a number of products—ranging from cat nip wipes to toy cleaner wipes—continue to emerge. However, the rate of these introductions has dropped off considerably since the household wipes market was at its peak earlier this decade.