The system of washing clothes has come a long way, from washing them with just water to using natural materials found in nature. Just like how society and culture evolved, so did household chores. As machines are becoming and getting better, so does the equipment and the chemicals we use in our household. Laundry is one of the chores that will forever be part of our chores as we use clothing in many areas of our lives and daily activities. Though there are many disposable materials now, linens, curtains, and clothes are some of the materials that we will be reusing. With this in mind, laundry will be part of our household routine. This does not mean that laundry should be a tedious task. Laundry detergent alone holds a $133 billion market share, bleach share way less than that, but still it has a suitable amount for corporations to focus their resources on.
Time changing the method on washing the laundry
The changes in how laundry is done progressed alongside the progress of technology. It is not only the washing machine that has improved. Detergent and bleach had changed as well. From a limited bleach powder that is strong enough to put holes on every piece of clothing to a now skin-friendly bleach that one can use even with bare hands. The discovery of different chemicals that can help clean homes led to the discovery of substances that can be tough on the stain but not on the skin. These chemicals have helped people in cleaning and use the chemicals with ease. Nowadays, there is a variety of bleach in the market, from powerful ones you can even use for cleaning the tiles and floors of homes to very gentle ones you can use to remove stains in silk and other sensitive kinds of materials. With this variety, the market for bleach had also expanded to organic and for sensitive skin.
Bleach: It’s variety and how it is used
Bleach is no longer for white sheets or clothes alone. We can now use bleach even for the most sensitive kind of material like lace and silk. If you walk down the grocery aisle, you will see varieties of bleach that are available. It can be categorized based on the company that is making it, the kind of bleach it is for, and so many categories. Some bleach even has the distinct smell of flowers and powder making it suitable for those sensitive to the strong smell of the chemical. There is no more prejudice towards using bleach as it can be categorized based on how you want to use it and how you need it. However, despite the availability of a variety of bleach, one has to be careful using bleach. Using solid bleach to wash the white clothes can still cause damage if not used appropriately. For example, if you are using chlorine powder to clean off the stains in the beddings if not used appropriately, some of the powder can scatter around the laundry area and can cause damage to other clothing. Handling bleach should still be with care since it can affect the different fabrics.
Most bleach is chlorine-based. The percentage in the solution can be the determinant of how the bleach can be used. For some diluting the solution is key to use it on different kinds of fabric. However, since diluting does not guarantee that the outcome of the solution, most just opt on buying a specific bleach for the kind of fabric that they will be using, this will ensure that they are using the right chemical for the kind of fabric that they are washing. The kind of bleach to use for which fabric does not need high thinking skills as the lighter the fabric the lower the percentage of bleach there is to use. Other factors like the smell of the bleach, sensitivity, and others are written on the label to check and select the brand of bleach they can use. The three most common kinds of bleach available in the market are chlorine bleach, oxygen bleach, and hydrogen peroxide.
Depending on what you want to wash, then that will be the kind of bleach you should be buying. There are approximately 21 brands of bleach in the US market alone and it shares a whopping $1 billion industry. With almost every household using a different kind of bleach, it is not surprising that corporations came up with different kinds of bleach that will suit the consumers. Sensitivity to the needs of the consumers can lead to being the industry leader and getting the majority of the market share. Doing laundry is not only about making sure that clothes come out of the washing machine clean, there are other needs and wants that corporations should fulfill in order for the consumer to keep using the product. When doing laundry the hands are the other parts that are used in ensuring that the clothes are clean, so most industry leaders think about how to take care of the skin on the hands to ensure that it would still be smooth even using the harsh chemical of the bleach. There are many factors that manufacturers consider when leading consumers to buy their products, for years now, the price of bleach in the market does not really have significant rise compared to laundry detergent, and the main reason for this is because manufacturers wanted to encourage the consumers to continue buying the same product from them.
Consumers’ needs and how the types of bleach came about
One of the concerns of consumers is the fact that clothes are not all white. Clothes have different colors. With this in mind, manufacturers starts to think of different kinds of bleach that would cater to the need of those who are facing the dilemma of washing colored clothes. Stains could also be on colored clothes, especially the ones with kids. Kids love playing and are messy eaters, sauces and mud and all other kinds of stains could stick on their clothes and it could really be difficult for those who will be doing laundry to make sure that the clothes come out of the washing machine spotless clean. Since some stains need bleach to be removed from the clothes it would be challenging to use just any kind of bleach, even hydrogen peroxide could damage the color of the clothes, so it is important to think about the kind of chemicals to use on colored clothes. The color and the kind of materials are a few of the factors that led to the creation of color-friendly bleach in the market. There had been a long clamor for a bleach to be created that is color and material-friendly since most clothes are predominantly colored.
Oxygenated bleach boosts the power of the bleach without damaging the color of the fabric. It is the most common kind of bleach for colored clothes and sensitive fabrics. There are various brands of bleach available to the market for colored clothes, Procter and Gamble is the industry leader with 60 percent of the market shares, Tide alone holds 30 percent of the market share. OxiClean is one of the industry leaders in maximizing the use of oxygen in maximizing how effective bleach will be. OxiClean has different products. There are 32 products listed on their website. All those products are ensured for effective use. It is tricky to use which product depending on the preference of the consumer. Creating different products to suit the different needs of consumers is the best way to cater to their needs and will encourage more consumers to use the brand and with the variety of products they can choose from one good product would ensure sales of the others.
OxiClean: How is it different from other products
OxiClean having a variety of products to choose from and ensuring that it is good for the colored clothes had become a household name for more than a decade. It had assured its consumers that it can deliver to its needs. Consumers would have the inkling that using the same product would be easier than using different products. Like for example if they use OxiClean for bleach, they will use the same brand for detergent and bleach or stain remover. The strength of the brand is that it has a variety of products for laundry and for home cleaning. This assures the customers of the kind of products that they can choose from. The products also have familiar scents which according to research sell well with the consumers. lavender is a scent associated with cleanliness. There are also products that are multi-purpose, this means that one product can be used for doing different cleaning chores in the house. These multi-purpose products work well with consumers since it saves shelf space and money. It is easy for consumers that while they have a variety of options to choose from if they can save money on products such as multi-purpose cleaning materials. Anti-bacterial products are also a hit on consumers. They like products that not only assure them of cleanliness but deep cleaned materials. Market research shows that anti-bacterial cleaning products sell faster than regular cleaning materials.
What gives OxiClean an edge over its competitors is that it has other products other than for laundry. Tide holding the biggest market share of 30 percent when it comes to laundry products still has limited products and focuses only on laundry products. Though the variety of products available from Procter and Gamble, for Tide alone, it is never associated with anything else other than laundry. This makes OxiClean with a wider range of products in the market reaching different needs of consumers. Cleaning the house using only one product could actually be very convenient for consumers when shopping. Convenience is the edge of OxiClean and they would sell because of this. In the age of pandemic when cleaning materials had been off the shelf for a while, it is good to know that OxiClean can be used for purposes other than washing the clothes. It is not enough to have the stain removed from the clothes, consumers would want more than that. They want deep-cleaned clothes, stains, and bacteria removed.
There are different kinds of bleach and as mentioned earlier, there are different kinds of bleach, and not all bleach is safe to wash with clothes. Even with the method of diluting the bleach, it is still not an assurance that it is a percentage enough not to damage the clothing. OxiClean, assures the consumers that it can thoroughly clean the clothes without damaging its fabric. An assurance on the part of the consumers that the fabric is well cleaned and safe is something that most of us look forward to. The kind of care that we want from our laundry detergent and bleach goes beyond removing the stains. There is a huge difference between OxiClean and bleach, and part of that is an assurance that not only can clothes come out clean but also the fact that even colored clothes can be washed with OxiClean which is impossible with bleach. OxiClean has a product that is not chlorine-based which makes it better. It means that it can remove the stain, make sure the clothes are clean and yet it is not damaged. When washing colored clothes, one of the biggest horror is that clothes coming out of the washing machine with bad color. Bleach damaging the colors of the clothes renders the clothes utterly useless. With prices of ordinary clothes averaging 35 dollars nowadays, it would be expensive if clothes would only be thrown because of using the wrong laundry materials.
OxiClean and other color safe products on Amazon
OxiClean is in the Editorial Recommendation of Amazon, which means that it is a great product that provides a good value for money. Though there are other products in the market that is color safe that is readily available on amazon., some of these products are big players in the market when it comes to color-safe bleach.
Tide, for example, dominates the market and the product is always unavailable on amazon showing that a lot of consumers would order the product whenever it is available.
Clorox is another product that is available on amazon. Clorox being a leader in bleach and similar products had been trusted by consumers for years and would rank high in consumer surveys. It is one of the products that one can try and since it is widely available not only in the USA but also in other countries.
Lysol is another product that goes beyond removing stains. It also sanitizes your laundry. Consumers rave for laundry detergent and bleach that has anti-bacterial components and they always have high market value compared to their competitors and that is because of the assurance that consumers get from the product. Lysol is a company known for sanitizing and a brand people always associate with cleanliness. The brand having a laundry product, consumers might be inclined to buy it more for its sanitizing power than its laundry component, that is not the case though as the consumers rave for both its sanitizing and bleaching power which makes it a good brand and something that consumers will always look forward to using.
When washing clothes, especially colored ones, one of the biggest fear is that the colors will mix and will ruin the clothes. However, with the evolution of technology, there are better options to ensure that this does not happen. SHOUT, an SC Johnson product, is a color catcher, which means that when mixed in the laundry it will catch the eye of the clothes so it does not affect the other clothes and in turn ruin its colors. This is a good product for consumers as it is a hassle to wash clothes based on their colors since it will be time-consuming and will also use up a lot of other resources like water and electricity. Products like this help the consumers, it may not be like the color-safe bleach that removes stains but it is still a good product that the consumers can use to ensure that the clothes they put in the washing machine come out safe and clean. Another multi-purpose product is Purex, it is a laundry detergent with bleach. Since it is also color-safe, that means you can just add it to the laundry and need not add bleach to remove the stains from the clothes.
Products can also be bought in refills. Buying refills has its advantage and disadvantages. Advantages include a cheaper price and it is more environmentally friendly. With the cheaper price when compared to the exact volume you can get from a bottled one, it is expected that most will buy the refill, however that is not the case. Consumers still prefer buying bottled ones, the reason for that is the disadvantage of buying refill ones. You still have to transfer it to the bottle, so it is important to keep the bottle so the refill can have a container, otherwise, you have to buy a separate container for the refill. Having to keep the container or keeping a container to use the refill is quite inconvenient to most thus resulting in consumers buying the bottle instead of the refill. There should be a better reason for consumers to buy the refill than the ones in the bottle so refills would sell more. Another notable product is the spray color-safe bleach. This is a good product from different brands since it can attack the stain specifically on clothes or other fabrics. In households with one or two children or none at all, stained clothes will be common compared to those that have more. Thus, using bleach in every laundry would be impractical, and bottled color-safe bleach would be a better option.
