Laura Mahecha
Director of Professional Cleaning, Chemicals and Materials
Professional cleaning wipes remain an important part of cleaning and sanitation across commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities. But the way end users evaluate, purchase, and use these products is changing.
Kline + Company’s latest research provides a closer look at these shifts, drawing on 615 interviews, including 600 structured surveys with professional cleaning decision makers across 10 U.S. end-use segments and 15 in-depth B2B interviews.
The findings highlight how sustainability expectations, product preferences, purchasing behavior, and operational needs are shaping the professional cleaning wipes market.
Sustainability is becoming more influential
Sustainability is playing a greater role in product selection. 78% of respondents say sustainability influences their choice of one disposable wipe brand or product over another.
Environmental requirements are also becoming more prominent within facilities. 54% of respondents report being required to purchase green cleaning products, while the research indicates that 66% will be required to incorporate green cleaning products into their operations within the next two years.
At the same time, concerns around disposable wipes and environmental goals have increased. Plastic content, waste, building recommendations, and compatibility with ESG objectives are among the factors influencing wipe usage.
Professionals are willing to pay more for greener wipes
The research also points to changing willingness to pay. Respondents are willing to pay 11% to 20% more for sustainable wipes than traditional wipes per year, compared with 1% to 10% in the previous study.
Packaging matters too. Fully recyclable packaging ranks highest among the packaging changes professionals say would be most valuable, followed by reduced packaging or less plastic and packaging made from recycled materials.
Dry wipers are gaining ground
Use of disposable dry wipers are growing at a very fast past, up approximately 27 percentage points compared with the previous study. This is attributed to more use on kiosks, LED screens, payment portals, and data centers.
Wipes continue to serve a broad range of cleaning needs, including disinfecting high-touch points and restroom surfaces, quick cleaning in break rooms, spill clean-up, and cleaning and disinfecting germ hot spots.
Purchasing channels continue to evolve
Distributors are the main channel where professional end users buy wipes. The research points to several reasons behind distributor growth, including end-user familiarity with the channel, consultative sales support, preferences for purchasing through distributor websites, and consolidation among distributors. Independent online platforms have also increased their share of purchases.
Wipes remain part of the long-term cleaning strategy
Despite concerns around sustainability, cost, and performance, wipes remain firmly embedded in professional cleaning operations. 79% of respondents see increased cleaning wipe usage as a long-term protocol at their facilities.
Cost remains an important barrier to greater adoption, alongside uncertainty around cleaning effectiveness compared with traditional chemical products, cleaning efficiency versus other formats, and product availability.
What will continue to shape professional cleaning wipes?
Kline’s research identifies fast and efficient cleaning, labor and staffing pressures, sustainability, manufacturer consolidation, and distributor consolidation as trends continuing to influence the market.
Persistent labor shortages and staff turnover are creating demand for efficient, easy-to-use cleaning tools such as wipes. At the same time, sustainability and ESG goals continue to influence purchasing decisions, while innovation in substrates, active ingredients, and packaging remains important to the category.
Explore the findings
These findings provide a snapshot of how the needs and priorities of professional cleaning end users are changing.
Download Laura Mahecha’s presentation
Further Reading
Data Centers Are a Source of Growth for Wipes
Cleaning wipes continue to be a growing segment of the commercial cleaning industry overall. However, one end-use application stand out: data centers offer strong growth
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