The Future of Fabric Care: How Purchasing Trends and Scent Tech are Shaping the Industry

The global laundry care market size^a is estimated to grow by $21.6 billion from 2024-2028, according to Technavio. The market research platform reported that the laundry care market is responding to growing environmental concerns by promoting eco-friendly products. While sustainable solutions are among the top consumer demands in fabric care products, the sensorial and well-being benefits of fragrance cannot be overlooked. 

This article outlines consumer purchasing drivers per peer-reviewed research as well as innovative scent and sustainability technology launches in the fabric care market. 

^ahttps://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/laundry-care-market-size-is-set-to-grow-by-usd-21-6-billion-from-2024-2028--product-innovation-and-portfolio-extension-boost-the-market-technavio-302164731.html

Unilever's Dirt Is Good brand developed Wonder Wash—a detergent designed for a 15-minute cycle—using robotics and artificial intelligence.courtesy of Unilever

Sustainability

In April 2024, Unilever's Dirt Is Good brand developed Wonder Wash—a detergent designed for a 15-minute cycle—using robotics and AI. According to Unilever, a change in consumer habits has meant that while clothing still picks up invisible grease and grime, 70%^b of the clothing we wash now contains no visible stains. Instead, it is soiled with invisible sweat, dust and odor-causing body oils. As a result, 78%^c of washing machine owners choose a cycle that lasts less than 30 minutes at least once a week. This, coupled with the rise of washing machines with cycle settings as short as 15 minutes, has created a new consumer need.

Unilever scientists have developed a blend of fast-acting ingredients, which activate as soon as the cycle begins. With 35 patents pending, the innovation is set to create a new category of laundry products.

Eduardo Campanella, business group president, of Unilever Home Care, said, “Until now, laundry detergents have not kept pace with changing consumer behaviors. By harnessing people’s enthusiasm for short cycles for everyday stains, we’re opening up the potential for a new category of short-cycle products within the laundry. This breakthrough in fast-acting cleaning will come to consumers around the world under Dirt Is Good, one of Unilever’s 30 Power Brands—where we’re really focusing our investment and bringing through bigger and better innovations. As part of Unilever Home Care’s Clean Future Strategy, not only is this about delivering an unmissably superior laundry experience but also reducing environmental impact by encouraging the use of shorter, energy-saving cycles. Using over a century in detergent development, we’ve overcome a real technical challenge to offer outstanding performance even in the shortest timeframe and the difficult washing conditions of the short cycle.”

^bHandbook for Cleaning/Decontamination of Surfaces, B.1.I Laundry Cleaning of Textiles (Elsevier, 2007)Purchasing Drivers

^cToluna H&A Quick Wash Behaviours UK, FR, BR (Nov 22); TK, TH, VN, ANZ (Jun 23), n=1500 per markets

Purchasing Drivers

In a peer-reviewed paper published in Cognitive Research Principles and Implications^c, Procter & Gamble (P&G) representatives as well as scholars alongside Fragrance Creators Association's president and CEO Farah K. Ahmed proposed three factors to explain why people are attracted to scented household products.

P&G outlined the three factors including functional benefits (mitigating malodor, covering product base odor, freshening air and fabrics), in-use experience benefits (signaling cleanliness, reinforcing efficacy, experiencing pleasant use of the product) and emotional benefits (increasing confidence, boosting mood, generating nostalgia).

^chttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8972642/

Symrise's SuperBloom is described as a unique fragrance collection providing an intense and long-lasting fragrance experience while SymAqua is said to be a natural and convenient fragrance solution for air fresheners.courtesy of Symrise

Fragrance Technology Innovations

P&G's research is echoed by the following home care technology launches that have debuted in the last 11 months. One of which made its debut in May 2024, with Symrise's launch of detergent fragrances utilizing SuperBloom^d and the water-based air freshener solution SymAqua^e. SuperBloom is described as a unique fragrance collection providing an intense and long-lasting fragrance experience. SymAqua is said to be a natural and convenient fragrance solution for air fresheners. 

René Hemeier VP of Fragrances Africa, Middle East & Turkey at Symrise shares, “[..] SuperBloom and SymAqua promise and build on [Symrise's] expectations to deliver high performing fragrances that elevate the end consumer’s sensory experience in the realm of home care with primary focus on Fabric and Air Care. The performative, convenient, and easy-to-use technology highlights our commitment to identifying the needs of a very dynamic market environment and our dedication to provide[ing] innovative future-proof solutions for the same. Consumers in the [Middle East] Region love blooming, intense, and long-lasting fragrances and Symrise feels proud to deliver."

At the beginning of 2024, I took a trip to Orlando, Florida to attend my very first American Cleaning Institute Convention. I was one of 1,300 attendees who explored the latest technologies the cleaning industry has to offer. During my exploration, I visited two interactive exhibits hosted by dsm-firmenich and Givaudan, both showcasing innovative scent technologies as it relates to laundry care.

Haloscent is described as a biodegradable profragrance that is said to deliver a new experience by releasing not only one but two perfume molecules over time, creating a halo effect designed to enable the entire fragrance to last longer for a more rounded olfactive experience.courtesy of dsm-firmenich

1. dsm-firmenich’s Sensorium: I was walked through the multi-faceted immersive experience by perfumer Sabine de Tscharner who broke down the capabilities of dsm-firmenich’s lineup of innovative fragrance technologies including HaloScent^f, PopScent^g and explained the influence of the company’s EcoScent Compass^h.

• PopScent is designed to utilize core-shell polymeric capsules containing fragrances that are deposited and retained on surfaces such as clothes, skin and hair during product use. Upon drying, the capsules are said to become brittle and break (due to naturally occurring physical forces, such as movement, rubbing, combing, etc.), releasing the fragrance. de Tscharner also discussed the reinvented PopScent range which features a “new generation” of freshness with PopScent Eco Max, utilizing the company’s first capsule made exclusively with 100% biodegradable ingredients.

• In terms of Haloscent, I was able to experience the new generation of biodegradable profragrances that is said to deliver a new experience by releasing not only one but two perfume molecules over time, creating a halo effect designed to enable the entire fragrance to last longer for a more rounded olfactive experience. 

2. Givaudan House: Throughout this exhibit, Givaudan highlighted recently debuted home care, personal care and laundry care ingredient technologies inspired by #CleanTok (A TikTok phrase that users search in order to find a list of videos for deep cleaning inspiration, tips, and before-and-after clips.) 

The head screen in the Givaudan House read, “A clean space promotes mental clarity and well-being, backed by a portfolio of well-being technologies.”

Also showcased was the recently debuted (January 2024), Scentaurusⁱ Vanilla technology as the extension of its fragrance precursor collection. Scentaurus Vanilla is a non-coloring, elegant vanilla note, specifically designed for liquid detergents. Naturally activated by oxygen, this high-performing new precursor delivers a wave of freshness and a long-lasting powdery, creamy vanilla effect.

Scentaurus Vanilla is designed to increase creative possibilities and differentiation in the market with unique precursor combinations. These precursors are said to maximize a fragrance’s long-lastingness across many applications, allowing for the exploration of new olfactive territories and delayed impact.

Givaudan's internal research discovered that 69% of consumers express their desire for fragrances to be long-lived because it “makes them feel fresh all day,” Givaudan’s range of fragrance precursors are designed to create memorable moments and evoke positive emotions, offering consumers an experience of everlasting freshness.

Scentaurus Vanilla is a biodegradable molecule according to OECD guidelines and was developed according to the Principles of Green Chemistry, using Givaudan’s proprietary FiveCarbon Path^j and a Safe-by-Design approach. 

Givaudan perfumer Nadia Geyken said, “Scentaurus Vanilla reminds me of the sweet and wholesome smell of cocoa and vanilla! It is nostalgia’s gentle dance! In a detergent fragrance, it brings softness and powdery facets without coloration - what a revolution!”

^dSuperBloom is a registered trademarks of Symrise

^eSymAqua is a registered trademarks of Symrise

^fHaloScent is a registered trademark of dsm-firmenich

^gPopScent is a registered trademark of dsm-firmenich

^hEcoScent Compass is a registered trademark of dsm-firmenich

ⁱScentaurus is a trademark of Givaudan

^jFiveCarbon Path is a trademark of Givaudan

Looking Forward

Rafael Trujillo, R&D vice president, Victor Mills Society and master perfumer at P&G and a co-author in the above-mentioned peer-reviewed paper shared, “Scent and fragrance play a huge role in consumer purchasing behaviors. Perhaps, if we can learn more about what people prefer, and why they prefer those elements, we can create even better experiences and products that deliver superior performance.”