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Americans are spending more time at home. What was a necessity during the pandemic became a preference enabled by technology. With home at the center, how people spend their time and how they care for their environment is changing.
New research from The Clorox Company suggests cleaning is becoming more frequent, more emotional, and more closely tied to how people view time and wellbeing. Engagement with cleaning is record high — in fact, many Americans report cleaning more now than they did even at the height of the COVID pandemic. Motivations have shifted, too: Cleaning is increasingly linked to self-care. Consumers find joy in the process and seek emotional rewards. In a volatile world, people turn to home care for stress relief, a sense of control and accomplishment.
These are among the many findings in the Home Care Redefined report, a comprehensive look at how life at home is evolving and what that means for the future of related Consumer Packaged Goods categories. Drawing on proprietary insights and broader industry data, the research explores how people are spending time at home, what they value in their spaces, and how domestic routines are adapting to new functional and emotional needs.
The takeaway: Cleaning is moving from the background of daily life to something more engaging and meaningful.
Cleaning finds a new meaning
According to the report, Americans continue to spend more time at home than they did before the pandemic, even as offices and social calendars have reopened. Homes are now workplaces, gathering spaces, gyms, entertainment venues and places of recovery — often all in the same day. That shift is reshaping home care.
One notable change is the rise of what is described as “in-the-flow” cleaning. Cleaning time now averages 25 minutes daily — more than during the pandemic and a new high. Instead of setting aside large blocks of time for chores, many people are tackling small tasks throughout the day: wiping down surfaces between meetings, refreshing spaces before guests arrive or tidying up to reset between activities.
This behavior reflects a deeper shift in motivation. Cleaning is no longer just about meeting expectations or maintaining standards. It is increasingly about how people want to feel in their homes.
Consumers frequently describe cleaning as a source of accomplishment and calm. In an environment defined by constant demands on attention, it offers a rare sense of completion and control. The importance of emotional payoff, from reduced stress to improved mood, has for the first time in our tracking surpassed the functional result.
For the industry, that shift opens the door to new types of innovation. Solutions that support flexible, intuitive, bite-sized, sensorially rich cleaning are better aligned with how people live today.
Greater focus on health at home
As time at home has grown more central to daily life, so has awareness of how the home environ