Products are changing what we think ‘clean’ smells like

Dish soap that smells like gingerbread. Birthday-cake-scented trash bags. Laundry detergent redolent of a ripe peach.

Move over lemon, pine and lavender, there’s a new set of scents taking over the cleaning aisle.

“Consumers today, especially Zillennials, are energized by scent,” says Brienne Neisewander, vice president of marketing at Hefty, the maker of those birthday-cake-scented trash bags. “Scent has become an experience in itself, offering a form of escapism, a mood boost or even a sense of self-expression.”

As with anything else in life, fragrance is subject to trends and whims. “The pendulum swings back and forth” between an interest in and demand for fragrance and pushes for a more fragrance-free existence, says Emily Little, the associate managing editor of Perfumer & Flavorist.

We’re in a period of #smellmaxxing, a trend driven largely by young people. “Adding fragrance in unexpected places, or with unexpected profiles, can infuse fun into the everyday,” Neisewander says, “even in something as simple as a household essential.”

Consumers aren’t necessarily abandoning legacy fragrances to make room for new scents, though. “Classic scents like citrus, lavender and pine will always drive broad consumer appeal,” Neisewander says, “but we are seeing consumers express interest in more complex and intriguing profiles.”

That includes sweet dessert-like scents, in particular, that elicit feelings of warmth, comfort and nostalgia. “That emotional connection is a powerful driver of why they’re becoming increasingly popular in the cleaning and home essentials aisles,” Neisewander says.

Gourmand scents are even turning up in the laundry room. This year, the detergent brand Laundry Sauce introduced Mojave peach.

“ We haven’t traditionally done fragrances that are gourmand, but we wanted to bring something fruity and fun [to market],” founder Ian Blair says.

He was concerned that gourmand scents would be “too edible,” by which he means he didn’t want his detergent to make your clothes smell like food. He needn’t have worried.

“It’s been a very well-received fragrance,” he says. “In fact, out of all of our limited edition fragrances, it’s the one that’s sold the fastest.”

Laundry Sauce isn’t the only brand seeing huge successes by dipping a toe into the gourmand arena, but not all shoppers want these scents.

Baby boomers, on the other hand, are clinging to their pines, lavenders and lemons. (As is typical, not one of the experts interviewed for this story mentioned Gen Xers. But we’re okay with that. Really.)

Fret not, boomers and other lovers of lemon and assorted citrus scents. They still have a strong presence in the cleaning aisle, but mandarin, neroli and other fancy oranges are pushing aside the humble lemon. Limes, too, are having a moment, particularly outré ones like Kaffir and Persian. Even the regular ones are being tarted up, appearing in countertop sprays and glass cleaners under the stage name Lime Zest, or paired with sea salt, basil or green tea.

“ Citrus sounds like such a monolith, but there are so many different species of citrus,” Little says. The newer iterations sound “a bit nicer, so there is that premiumization that people are looking for from those fancier ingredients.”

She promises there is still room in the cleaning aisle for what she called “that classic lemon scent,” because it rouses feelings of nostalgia. “People will always want something that reminds them of the good old days, and that may be a lemon spray that smells similar to what your mom used.”

Nostalgia is at play in another key driver of the popularity of gourmand scents: the pumpkin spice latte.

One of the reasons the PSL and all the adjacent products are so coveted is that they are only available for a specific period of time, which lends them an air of exclusivity. “While PSL may have opened the door, it’s this broader cultural shift toward seeking simple pleasures that’s really fueling the demand for gourmand scents,” Neisewander says.

So what, beyond a fondness for nostalgia, does our demand for PSL and other scents say about us? Neisewander points to the influence of “little treat culture.”

“Consumers, especially Millennials and Gen Z, are looking for small affordable ways to bring joy and comfort into everyday life,” Neisewander says.

And it’s not just fall; there are seasons and events, such as summertime, back-to-school and, yep, even birthdays, that provide important touchpoints — and sensory associations — for brands to reach customers both new and old.

“Tastes and fragrances and food,” Blair says, “all that is truly the spice of life.”