People taking a survey

Facility managers value performance and trusted brands more than anything else when buying cleaning products, according to a new study of the industry.

Kline & Company came to this conclusion after surveying more than 1,000 professional cleaning leaders in various industries, including healthcare, foodservice, education, commercial property management, hospitality, and government. Titled "Janitorial and Housekeeping Products," the survey has a base year of 2024, will be published in September 2025, and makes forecasts through 2029.

Unsurprisingly, input among survey participants differed depended on the type of end user. Nursing home end users expressed an overwhelming desire for products that perform well, with 76 percent of respondents naming this their top purchasing factor. That response was higher than the average among all total respondents, with 61 percent responding that a product that performs well is important.

Restaurant end users value a good price and purchases that can help employees save time, which makes sense considering the prevalence of staffing shortages and small margins in that industry. This purchasing factor was much more important to restaurants than others end users, such as K-12 schools.

There's much discussion about the importance of green certification among those in the cleaning industry. According to the survey, this type of certification is most important to end users in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and schools.

For more on the survey, click here.