2026
9
US Home Laundry Products Market Report 2026
2026-05-18T22:01:46+00:00
REP4782F3C9_2E72_428E_82F3_C92E72528EE8
4400
193463
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Report
en_GB
The US home laundry market is on track for steady growth, with retail sales forecast to reach $14.9 billion by 2030, up from $13.4 billion in 2025. The US home…
US
Household
simple

US Home Laundry Products Market Report 2026

"Laundry routines are evolving toward more personalized, wellness-driven and sensory-led care experiences."

Lindsay Davenport, Analyst - Household Care

Lindsay Davenport, Analyst - Household Care

US Home Laundry Market – Trends and Insights

  • The US home laundry market is on track for steady growth, with retail sales forecast to reach $14.9 billion by 2030, up from $13.4 billion in 2025.
  • The US home laundry market is contending with higher prices while consumer expectations continue to evolve. In response, shoppers are prioritizing value, but not at the expense of sustainability or wellness. Younger consumers in particular are gravitating toward more innovative and environmentally minded solutions, as concerns around microplastics and product residue heighten interest in gentler fabric care.
  • At the same time, fragrance is taking on a more central role in laundry routines, shifting from a basic “clean” signal to a more personalized sensory experience. As appliances become more sophisticated, technology is increasingly shaping how consumers think about fabric care, reinforcing and extending product-level innovation.

This Report Looks at the Following Areas:

  • Responsibility and appliance use within laundry care
  • Consumer purchasing patterns for laundry products
  • Key drivers of laundry product purchase decisions
  • Factors that simplify or streamline laundry routines
  • The role of scent in laundry routines and everyday life
  • Attitudes and behaviors toward laundry care products

Market Definitions

For the purposes of this Report and market size, Mintel considers home laundry products to include the following:

  • clothes-washing detergents (also includes fine-washable detergents)
  • liquid fabric softeners
  • laundry care products (solid-form in-wash scent boosters, laundry starch, static control/fabric protectors)

The following may be mentioned in the Report but are excluded from the market size:

  • fabric softener sheets (also includes dryer bars)
  • bleach (SHC [sodium hypochlorite] and color-safe)

Collapse All
  1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

    • What you need to know
    • Outlook for home laundry products
    • Opportunities
    • Optimize companion products to support detergent use
    • Treat fabric longevity as the new performance benchmark
    • Redefine fabric care as wellness for clothes, bodies and the home
  2. THE MARKET

    • Snapshot – market size and forecast
    • Rising prices keep routinized categories under pressure
    • Microplastics are a growing concern for the category
    • Wellness redefines what “clean” means in laundry
    • Laundry products must work in low-attention moments
    • Graph 1: time of day that laundry is typically done, by generation, 2025
    • Laundry is positioned for sustained growth
    • Graph 2: total retail sales and forecast of home laundry products, at current prices, 2019-30
    • Retail sales and forecast of home laundry products
    • Retail sales and forecast of home laundry products, at inflation-adjusted prices
    • P&G defends laundry leadership through backend innovation
    • Henkel is balancing near-term declines with long-term bets in laundry and homecare
    • Sales of home laundry products by company
    • Sales of laundry detergent by company
    • Sales of fabric softener liquid by company
    • Sales of laundry care, by company
  3. THE CONSUMER

    • Changing needs in laundry care
    • Push powders with smarter formulation and design
    • Graph 3: powder detergent purchase, by age group, 2022-26
    • Look globally to modernize powder detergents
    • Longer stain treatment timelines raise the risk of fabric damage
    • Graph 4: when stains are normally treated, by generation, 2026
    • Rethinking dryer formats can turn a passive step into purposeful care
    • Graph 5: use the dryer to freshen clothes, 2026
    • Shift dryer innovations toward performance and fabric protection
    • Appliances are increasingly delivering fabric care, reshaping the role of laundry products
    • Respond to residue anxiety with clearer, lighter solutions
    • Use reformulation to answer residue and wellness concerns
    • Make laundry faster for families by standardizing execution, not just shortening cycles
    • Graph 6: important features to make laundry routines easier, by parental status, 2026
    • Elevating laundry through fragrance routines
    • Grow volume by encouraging broader scent repertoires across loads
    • Graph 7: laundry scent habits and preferences, by age group, 2026
    • Expand core scents across household and personal care routines
    • Link between-wash products to scent habits and garment longevity
    • Graph 8: select laundry scent routine habits, by age and income, 2026
    • Position laundry scent as a mood-setting element, not a fixed choice
    • Perfume-grade scent drops introduce modular fragrance to laundry
    • Anchor scented laundry in functional wellness for ageing consumers
    • Future-proof laundry with benefits that go beyond cleaning and fragrance
    • Reinforcing credibility through fabric care education
    • Use science-backed education to counter misleading laundry hacks
    • Graph 9: confidence in making laundry product decisions and usage of social media for laundry information, 2026
    • Social platforms are redefining who laundry expertise comes from
    • Brands can use creators to simplify complex product design stories
    • Position machine settings as a value driver, not a source of error
    • Graph 10: attitudes toward specialty laundry products and laundry machine cycle settings, by age group, 2026
    • Familiar natural ingredients build confidence in cleaning performance
  4. PRODUCT, INNOVATION AND MARKETING

    • A growing share of new launches move beyond traditional fresh-and-clean scents
    • Graph 11: fragrance component groups in fabric care launches, 2021-26
    • Tide evo signals a need for brands to challenge legacy detergent formats
    • Givaudan advances long-lasting fragrance performance in laundry
    • AI unlocks smarter laundry at every step
    • When the wash cycle meets the wedding aisle
    • Robots may be niche, but ease will become more mainstream
  5. APPENDIX

    • Market definition
    • The market
    • Forecast methodology
    • Forecast methodology – fan chart
    • Market forecast and prediction intervals
    • Average annual household spending on home laundry products
    • Retail sales and forecast of laundry detergent, at current prices
    • Retail sales and forecast of laundry detergent, at inflation-adjusted prices
    • Retail sales and forecast of fabric softener liquid, at current prices
    • Retail sales and forecast of fabric softener liquid, at inflation-adjusted prices
    • Retail sales and forecast of laundry care products, at current prices
    • Retail sales and forecast of laundry care products, at inflation-adjusted prices
    • Laundry detergent continues to drive category outlook
    • The consumer
    • Consumer research questions
    • Consumer research methodology
    • US generation groups
    • Consumer questions
    • Decline in dryer sheet purchases is driven by consumers under 45
    • Graph 12: dryer sheet purchase, by age group, 2022-26
    • Fabric softener purchase is declining, especially among 18-34 year olds
    • Graph 13: fabric softener purchase, by age group, 2022-26
    • Powders and single-dose detergent sheets are the only products to see increases
    • Graph 14: change in laundry product purchases, 2022-26
    • Important attributes to laundry product selection, by product type
    • Graph 15: important attributes to laundry product selection, by product type, 2026
    • Important factors to making laundry routines easier
    • Graph 16: factors that make laundry routines easier, by age, 2026
    • Fabric care fragrance habits
    • Graph 17: laundry scent habits and preferences, by age, 2026

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