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On the ShelfBy The PetRetailNews Desk3 min readAugust 21, 2026
SuperZoo's Best New Product Is a Washing Machine Cleaner. The Question Is Whether You Stock It.
The award signals buyers are willing to test household-adjacent SKUs. Whether your customer base will buy it is a different question.
Uproot Clean took first place in the Home and Lifestyle category at SuperZoo's new product showcase with Washing Machine Cleaner Pro, a water-soluble tablet that addresses buildup, grime, residue, and odor from pet hair in washing machines.
The formula uses what the company calls FurGUARD, a blend of enzymes that target proteins in pet hair. The tablet is septic-safe and designed for consistent use to maintain machine performance.
This is the brand's fifth award across its first six trade shows and the second recognition this year for its laundry line. In March, Uproot won Best New Product in the Innovation category at Global Pet Expo for its Laundry Cycle Pro concept.
"Winning first place at Global Pet Expo and then again at SuperZoo six months later for our laundry line is a strong signal from the industry," said Dan Fallak, VP of Commerce at Uproot Clean. "We've seen an incredible surge in consumer demand for our laundry line, and it's exciting to see pet industry pros, shop owners, retail buyers, and distributors now showing that same level of excitement."
The category bet
Mehul Patel, founder of Uproot Clean, said the company brought the first pet-household-specific machine cleaner to market and is now expanding with Laundry Cycle Pro, a full line of laundry products designed for the specific challenges pet households face.
The underlying issue is real. Washing machines in pet households face accelerated wear from hair accumulation, and pet owners report running significantly more laundry loads than the average household due to hair and odor management. That combination creates a consumable opportunity, but the question for retailers is whether customers will connect that problem to a pet store shelf.
Fallak said the company saw over 5x the order interest in laundry SKUs at SuperZoo compared to Global Pet Expo six months earlier. That jump suggests buyers are committing shelf space and betting on repeat purchase velocity.
What the award signals
The recognition from SuperZoo validates that household products with a pet angle can compete for shelf space traditionally reserved for direct pet care items. The award doesn't mandate stocking decisions, but it does confirm that buyers at the show level are willing to test the category.
For stores that already carry cleaning or grooming wipes, the customer who buys those is solving pet household problems at your location rather than the grocery aisle. A washing machine cleaner targets the same customer in a different room. Test it on an endcap near checkout or adjacent to existing cleaning SKUs, and give it a 60-day window to track whether it moves on impulse or requires education.
For stores that don't stock any household-adjacent products, the award is peer validation but not a mandate. The decision is whether to be early on a category that could add margin and basket size, or to wait until a customer asks for it. The risk of being early is dead inventory. The risk of waiting is that a competitor stocks it first and becomes the store where pet owners solve more problems.
The failure modes
If you stock it and it sits, you've committed an endcap to a category your customer doesn't connect to your store. The cost is the opportunity cost of whatever else could have gone there: a known mover, a seasonal display, a brand extension in a category you already own.
If you skip it and the category takes off, you've ceded the household-solutions customer to whoever stocks it first. The cost is the margin on a high-velocity consumable and the customer who starts solving one more problem somewhere else.
For brand operators watching this, the window is open but it won't stay uncrowded. Uproot was first to market with a pet-specific machine cleaner, and the award proves that household products with a pet angle can compete for shelf space. The category is now visible to buyers and competitors alike.
The award tells you what buyers at SuperZoo are betting on before the rep calls your competitor. It doesn't make the stocking decision for you.
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