House cleaning taking a new turn in the Covid-19 era

Sale of house-cleaning appliances increased by 10 times since lockdown started, says local vendor

Three months after the lockdown, with little to no domestic help, urban Indians have shifted from the humble 'jhadoo' and 'pochha' to new cleaning appliances such as automatic vacuum cleaners, dishwasher and self-squeezing mops.

The popularity of these electric, semi-automatic mops has soared since the lockdown, which has left a lot of urban working individuals in need of a quicker way to clean their houses.

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Shruti Sundar Ray (26), a resident of Kolkata, is planning to buy a vacuum cleaner as the physical labour of sweeping the house daily is difficult. “We are trying to find a specific model because our acquaintances are using it and we have got good reviews. But currently, it is out of stock on Amazon and Cliq,” she said.

A teacher at Oberoi International School in Mumbai, Moitreyee Mitra (49) tried searching for the self-squeezing mops in her neighbourhood but it had run out. "I have bad knees, so we ordered the pink ones from Amazon in the beginning of April.” Her house-help returned after the lockdown was eased but she preferred the traditional mop cloth to clean the house, she added.

Dr Sunita Varadaraj (56) from Coimbatore said she had ordered a Roomba's automatic vacuum cleaners online last year but had not used it as much then. “After the maid stopped coming, this one has been immensely helpful. It gets dust and dog hair from crevices very efficiently,” she said.

Local vendors have seen a rise in the sale of cleaning equipment. Thyagaraj A of Uniclean Equipments located in Shanti Nagar said, “The sale of vacuums, mops and cleaning supplies has increased by almost ten times during the lockdown. Customers are getting the products home delivered too.”

According to a Scroll article, ecommerce platforms like Amazon, Snapdeal and Paytm Mall have run out of these supplies despite a full-stock before the lockdown.

“Since the lockdown, the daily demand for spin mops has gone up four times,” a Snapdeal spokesperson told the news publication. “It became the fastest-selling household item on the ecommerce site within days of the lockdown. ShopClues, too, has reported a 100% increase in demand for spin mops-with-bucket,” the person added.

Snapdeal estimates that the mid-range ones – Rs 600-Rs 1,000 – are the most popular. “The most sold variant in this category is spin mop with bucket and wheels, with a handle to drag the bucket,” the spokesperson added.

Celebrities like Gulabo Sitabo’s Director Shoojit Sircar and Katrina Kaif, who had posted a video of her sweeping the floor at the beginning of the lockdown, too have taken recourse to these cleaning appliances, the article reported.