Understanding Best Cleaning Chemicals For Distributors

Cleaning Chemicals For Distributors

The Fall and Rise Of

Cleaning Chemical Distributor Industry

According to IBISWorld, a global market research firm founded in 1971 and dedicated to analyzing thousands of industries regarding an industry’s market demographics, market trends, and market growth — the Cleaning and Maintenance Supply Distributors industry had a market size, based on 2021 revenue data, of 7.4 billion dollars. The downside to this good news is that the cleaning and maintenance supply distributor industry declined an average of 3% per year between 2016 and 2021.  Overall, the primary reasons for the decline in sales revenue of cleaning chemicals for distributors is economic downturns and the declining life cycle of a cleaning product. Product life cycle decline is due to cleaning chemical distributors being unaware of their customer’s new needs and demands where cleaning is concerned. 

The good news for distributors of cleaning chemicals is the increased demand for cleaning chemical distributors since the Covid19 pandemic. With the lockdowns giving way to business as usual — with emphasis on ‘germ-free’ working environments, the need for cleaning chemical distributors knowledgeable in safe and effective cleaning products has never been greater!

Unified Solutions For Cleaning provides the following tips with regards to what cleaning chemicals for distributors work best for business success:

Five ‘Must’ Characteristics Of Cleaning Chemicals For Distributors:


Product Effectiveness:
Cleaning solutions that can meet the new stringent regulations for cleaning will sell themselves.  Dedicated cleaners are best for disinfecting and sanitizing ovens, restrooms, heavily trafficked carpets, hardwood, laminate, or tile flooring.


Cost-Effectiveness:
Multi-purpose cleaning products that efficiently clean all surfaces are also top of the mind of consumers of cleaning and sanitizing products.   

Simple To Use:  The best chemical cleaning products for distributors to have in stock are those with easy-to-understand directions of applying the product to the surface to be cleaned. 

Environmental Concerns:  Care for the environment is another priority for the retail buyer of cleaning products and wholesale business consumers.  As such, distributors may wish to consider custom-formulated cleaning products to satisfy environmental ‘green cleaning.’

Product Quality: The consumer of household or business chemical cleaning solutions looks for those products that stand out amidst the myriad of products on the shelf — with packaging in various sizes, light, fresh fragrances, or fragrance-free products.

The Why and What For Of Chemical Cleaning Agents

Today’s successful cleaning supply distributor needs to look beyond mere ‘catchy’ slogans. Slogans describing ‘whiter than white’ linens, windows providing a ‘streak-free shine,’ furniture polish that ‘makes furniture shine,’ dish detergent ‘tough on grease,’ and ‘scrubbing bubbles’ for bathtub shine.  Before these oft-quoted advertising slogans came to be, there came the work of diligent chemists, creating chemical cleaning solutions in the following four categories:

  • Detergents
  • Degreasers
  • Acids
  • Abrasives

The strength of cleaning products, all having pure water as the neutral base, depends on their pH level. The pH level varies from zero to 14 depending on whether the chemical ingredients are alkaline, acidic, neutral, or abrasive compounds. 

Alkaline Cleaning Agents: Most cleaning chemicals are alkaline compounds, excellent for lifting dirt stains, grease, oils, and other organic stains.  A common alkaline cleaning agent is bleach, with a pH level between eleven and 13.  With such a high pH level, bleach is deemed a corrosive cleaning agent and requires a high degree of ventilation with use. Bleach is very effective for eliminating stains and getting the linens ‘whiter than white’ but is not safe to use on all surfaces or fabrics.  Ammonia is another corrosive alkaline and the reason behind the streak-free window shine.  Those ‘scrubbing bubbles’ for the tub and tile are also alkaline cleaning agents and great for getting out the tough stains, grit, and grime in record time!

Acidic Cleaning Agents:  Acidic chemical cleaning compounds fall on the basic or neutral side of the pH scale. Acidic cleaners are suitable for cleaning mineral or hard water deposits, mild rust stains, soap film from tubs, and polishing brass or copper.  Some acidic cleaners are capable of disinfecting surfaces. The acidic compounds of sodium bisulfate, oxalic acid, dilute sulfuric acid can be found in toilet bowl cleaners.

Neutral Washing Agents: The most common cleaning agent is the pH-neutral detergent type product, such as dish detergents.  They contain non-ionic surfactants. A surfactant is a ‘surface active agent’ that works with water to lift surface dirt, grit, or grime from floors, counters, and appliances. 

In addition to the surfactants found in detergents, there are cleaning elements known as chelators, which help the surfactant lift the soils from a surface. There are also builder elements used to maintain the pH level of a solution and loosen the surface dirt and grit. Carrier elements in detergent solutions are water and solvents. Solvent carriers break down the soiled object into smaller pieces. Besides dishwashing detergents, multi-purpose cleaners are considered pH-neutral washing agents.

Such neutral cleaning agents will usually have a pH level of 6 and 8, are safe to use on any hard surface, and not adversely affect soft surfaces, such as carpet, clothing, towels, drapes, or curtains. These pH-neutral cleaners are safe to use on natural stone, tile, and hardwood.  Such cleaning products cover the ‘must’ characteristic of ease of use and thus easy cleaning chemicals for distributors to sell to commercial cleaning companies.  The pH-neutral solutions leave no residue to make the floor slippery while still wet. The pH-neutral solutions have no toxic fumes nor bring skin irritations to those using them. (although, it is always advisable to wear rubber gloves when cleaning.) Such cleaning products with lower pH levels are safer for the environment, should the product runoff to water systems.

Abrasive Agents: Abrasive cleaning agents are composed of small or large mineral or chemical particles.  The larger the particle in abrasive cleaning products, the ‘tougher’ is the abrasive cleaning power! Baking soda, powdered Borax, and salt are natural abrasive mineral cleaners. Chemical abrasives can come as powders or creams. Calcium carbonate (calcite) and silica are two forms of abrasive chemical minerals. Calcium carbonate is a mild abrasive, and the mildest abrasive is in a cream formulation.  Mild abrasives are best for fiberglass, laminate, countertops, grout, tile, sinks, tubs, cookware, and glass. Coarser abrasives are best for those tough stains found on outdoor stainless steel grills, oven bake racks, and cement.

Mere creative advertising slogans should not sway inventory decisions of cleaning chemicals for distributors.  Contact a leader in chemical manufacturing — Unified Solutions For Cleaning.

What Our Clients Can Expect

Unified Solutions For Cleaning is the chemical manufacturing leader in producing a broad spectrum of household cleaners, pet care cleaning products, and personal care cleaning products for the retail and wholesale market.

Companies with a cleaning product to produce learn quickly why Unified Solutions for Cleaning is a leader in chemical manufacturing as they see the consistency of service that is provided:

An in-house turnkey production experience that entails everything from the package label design, fast product production turnaround to the market, facilities to store product inventory, and shipping anywhere in the United States.

  • Quality control project leaders that stay part of every assignment end-to-end and certified chemists who ensure that the formula specifications are followed without deviation.
  • A large manufacturing facility conveniently located in central New Jersey with easy access to major highways and Liberty International Airport in Newark, NJ. The facility contains state-of-the-art production technology and trained and experienced production associates.
  • A production capacity of 25,000 + gallons of product mixtures bottled, labeled, and placed to pallets DAILY, ready for shipping.
  • Environmental consciousness.
  • 100% client satisfaction — the reason for our client trust.

The dedication to production efficiency at Unified Solutions For Cleaning enables our contract fill clients the ability to concentrate on the core of their business: sales growth and new product innovation!

Unified Solutions For Cleaning has been producing industrial, institutional, wholesale, and retail consumer cleaning products since 2005. In addition to contract filling services, the Unified Solutions For Cleaning team also provides private labeling services and toll manufacturing services. We also offer custom formulation to assist our clients with their specific product formula needs.  Contact us to arrange a tour of our manufacturing facility and discover the secret to our success — a well-balanced blend of integrity, quality, and value!

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