Insights / Perspectives
Coming Clean: The Top Trends Influencing Laundry Care
The U.S. laundry care market is growing, with retail sales rising 2% in 2024 to $17.9 billion. It is a competitive category and requires continuous innovation to appeal to today’s consumers. Laundry care brands should leverage the latest trends and consider developing fragrance-forward, non-toxic, quick-wash, and/or eco-friendly products to win at shelf.
Fragrance Forward
The growing focus on emotional wellness, combined with consumer demand for unique experiences, is elevating the role of fragrance in home and laundry care. According to Euromonitor, “Fragrance-driven self-care principles are reshaping consumer expectations in laundry care.” This is demonstrated by the expansion of traditionally fragrance-focused personal care brands – like Bath & Body Works and Ouia (x Dedcool) - into laundry care. Brands can stay competitive by incorporating mood-boosting functional fragrances, luxury aromas, unique scent combinations, fragrance “wardrobes”, and aesthetic product packaging that creates elevated experiences and adds value. Studio One Eleven developed a bespoke bottle for the fun, fragrance-forward brand Zum, helping them stand out.
Zum Laundry Soap
Non-Toxic
Today’s consumers are increasingly aware of the ingredients used in the products they buy, driving demand for gentler home cleaning products. According to a recent GlobalData survey, almost half of consumers are “extremely” or “very” concerned about the safety of chemicals used in household/laundry products. Simple, familiar ingredients provide reassurance. Brands must be transparent about ingredient safety, natural origins, and sustainability credentials, emphasizing benefits such as skin sensitivity and lower chemical content. A clean, minimal design can suggest a product uses fewer, higher-quality ingredients. Studio One Eleven’s design experts help customers like Charlie’s Soap create impactful and effective branding solutions that appeal to safety-conscious consumers.
Charlie's Soap
Quick-Wash
Increasingly busy lifestyles are driving consumers to seek convenient laundry care solutions, including quick-wash products that help them complete their laundry in less time. Current quick-wash routines aren’t always well executed, which can lead to dissatisfaction like residue and lingering odors. There is an opportunity for better, more specialized quick-wash solutions, as well as better consumer education on quick-wash procedures. Detergent brands should consider developing quick-wash detergents with fast-dissolving formulas, strong cleaning agents, and integrated sanitizers/scent boosters that combine speed and efficacy. Berlin Packaging has access to tens of thousands of packaging components for every type of product, dispensing system, and more. If we can’t find it, we can design it with our Studio One Eleven design and innovation team.
Photo Credit: Persil
Eco-Friendly
Laundry care is a category that has embraced sustainability with continued innovation. Brands are investing in concentrates, biodegradable products, laundry sheets, and more that reduce plastic use and conserve water and energy. While some of these solutions are not necessarily new, they are becoming more mainstream as traditional brands and retailers embrace these alternatives. Brands must incorporate sustainable practices in their product formulations, packaging, and manufacturing to appeal to today’s eco-conscious consumers. Berlin Packaging helps customers with eco-friendly packaging solutions, communication strategies, and more. Our dedicated sustainability team conducts lifecycle assessments (LCAs) to help our customers quantify their product’s environmental impact over the course of its entire lifecycle. Our LCA’s calculate a product’s environmental footprint, including its carbon footprint (greenhouse gas emissions) and water, mineral resource, and fossil fuel use.
Happy Elephant Laundry Detergent
As consumers continue to seek products that deliver convenience, safety, sensory appeal, and sustainability, the laundry care category will remain a hub of innovation. Brands that respond to these shifting expectations with well-designed packaging, credible sustainability practices, and distinctive experiences will stand out. With deep expertise in packaging engineering, sustainability analysis, and brand design through Studio One Eleven, Berlin Packaging is uniquely positioned to help brands bring these innovations to life — from concept to shelf.
Ready to Explore New Laundry Care Packaging Opportunities?
The brands mentioned in this report are trademarks of their respective owners. Inclusion of these brands in this report is not meant to imply an association with or endorsement from the respective trademark owners.