The Pampered Countertop

By ANNE MARIE CHAKER

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F. Martin Ramin for The Wall Street Journal

Premium-priced, strongly scented cleaning products are an under-the-radar splurge and status symbol in an uncertain economy.

Can household cleansers be sold like beauty products? Ask Mrs. Meyer.

The Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day line has been a surprise retail hit. It often costs up to 30% more than typical household cleaners and comes in stylish packaging and scents like lemon verbena and basil. It keeps adding new flavors—it will test a new rosemary scent starting in March at some Whole Foods stores.

Caldrea, a brand sold in select housewares stores, with $12 "sandalwood riceflower" cleaner and $9 "sea salt neroli" countertop cleaning spray has added what it calls an "essential collection," a lower-priced line for Target stores with citron ginger, olive oil and herbs of Provence scents.

The products claim to be more environmentally friendly than mass-market household cleaners. But they're a far cry from the plain packaging of early environmental products. Even Seventh Generation, one of the first brands to address environmental concerns with utilitarian packaging and unscented products, has added "green mandarin and leaf" shower cleaner and a "lemongrass and clementine zest" dish liquid.

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Mrs. Meyer's

Thelma Meyer, Iowa homemaker, gardener and mother of Monica Nassif, founder of the Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day line of cleansers.

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Mrs. Meyer's

Monica Nassif

Mrs. Meyer's creator is Monica Nassif, 54 years old, a former retail executive. She invented the Caldrea line in 2000 and added Mrs. Meyer's in 2001, naming it for her mother, Thelma Meyer, an Iowa homemaker and gardener.

With their cheerful retro packaging and four strong fragrances—basil, lavender, lemon verbena and geranium—the Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day products have become an under-the-radar splurge and status symbol for some women, who may have bottles of dish soap and countertop spray displayed by the kitchen sink the way cosmetics and creams are often found in bathrooms. "I never thought there should be a difference with shampooing your hair than having your hands in a bucket of all-purpose cleaner," Ms. Nassif says.

Judy Coppersmith, a Bossier City, La., homemaker and self-described "clean freak," says she enjoys how the Mrs. Meyer's products scent her home. "It's aromatherapy like nothing else can be, because it's a clean home," she says. Among her favorites are lavender and geranium. She says the basil scent smelled "too kitcheny" for the bathroom.

That upscale household cleaners are finding a loyal if small market is striking as consumers overall look for savings in an uncertain economy. Mrs. Meyer's research shows that its customer has an average household income of $80,000, is physically fit, and loves to treat herself, says Kevin Rutherford, Caldrea Co. chief executive. She is also likelier than average to decorate, entertain and make premium purchases ranging from cosmetics to organic food. Mrs. Meyer's prices, on average, are 20% to 30% higher than regular supermarket brands, due largely to the pricier, naturally derived ingredients and fancy packaging, he says.

Ms. Nassif put her own spin on the way stores merchandise the Mrs. Meyer's line using something she calls "brand blocking." Rather than have her laundry detergent in the laundry aisle and dish soap in the dish-soap aisle, Ms. Nassif persuaded stores to group all Mrs. Meyer's products together in one section, whether dish soap, spray or cleansers so the distinctive packaging really "pops," she says.

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Even though Caldrea was a small player in the household product arena, Ms. Nassif dispatched employees into the field to monitor restocking and manage the shelf for busy store managers. In 2008, closely held consumer products company SC Johnson & Son, which makes Windex, Pledge, Glade among other products, snapped up Caldrea Co. for undisclosed terms.

J.R. Watkins, another eco-chic line with old-fashioned apothecary-style packaging, says its home-care product sales have been growing at a 24% annual clip as it expands distribution from direct sales into big retail chains. J.R. Rigley, vice president of marketing at the Winona, Minn., company, says he thinks consumers are selectively flexible on price. With the most utilitarian products, like window cleaners, a shopper loses interest quickly when the price premium exceeds 35%, he says. "She's trained at that two dollars." But for hand soaps and dish soaps, she is "willing to step out of that range a little bit" because they'll be on display, he says.

Cleaning products historically used scents to woo women, convincing them their homes smelled clean after they cleaned. Traditional scents were "piney" or "citrus," says Rachel Herz, psychology professor at Brown University and author of "Scent of Desire." Strong scents signaled the cleaners worked, she says.

Manufacturers typically use hundreds of undisclosed synthetic chemicals to formulate cleaning-product fragrances, says David Steinman, founder of Green Patriot Working Group, Los Angeles, which encourages companies to adopt environmentally-friendly practices. Many eco-friendly brands boast that they use "essential oils" derived from plants they want to smell like. But even products that use pricy botanical oils may also rely on both synthetic and natural ingredients, manufacturers say.

As eco-friendly brands get more space in mass-market retailers like Wal-Mart and Target, they are reaching beyond hard-core, environmentally conscious shoppers, "dark green" consumers, in industry parlance. "The generation that Mrs. Meyer's is part of is really redefining the branding," says Bob Burke, an Andover, Mass., consultant in the natural-products segment.

Mass brands are also taking steps to promote their scents and environmental street cred. On Tuesday, Clorox Co. said it will list a "palette" of fragrance ingredients for all its cleaning products on its website. "It may not have the exact percentage, but every ingredient is in there," says Donald Knauss, Clorox chief executive. It follows Clorox's move to disclose active ingredients in its Green Works line in 2008 and for all its cleaning products a year later.

That's further than some boutique brands go. "Right now we don't do a full disclosure on fragrance ingredients" other than to guarantee that certain toxic ingredients aren't used, says Don Frey, vice president of product development for Method Products Inc., San Francisco, with products ranging from cucumber multi-surface wipes to almond wood cleaner.

Suzanne McCormick, Method senior director of fragrance, says she looks at trends from fine fragrances to food for inspiration. A small group of Method employees, ranging from computer technicians to accountants, test new fragrances and give their opinions. "Over time we figured out who has a good nose," Ms. McCormick says. She sometimes leaves a note in the office kitchen soliciting opinions about a not-yet-launched cleanser: "Leave a note and tell me what you think about this one."

Write to Anne Marie Chaker at anne-marie.chaker@wsj.com