Clorox Disinfecting Wipe Shortage Will Go Into 2021

Toilet paper has seemed to be making a comeback and has returned to the shelves of our grocery stores, but not so much for Clorox Wipes. If you were hoping to stockpile a few packs you may be out of luck.

According to company CEO Benno Dorer, it may well into 2021 before the stores are stocked with the wipes again. Dorer told Reuters this week that the company has been struggling to keep up with the demand for the disinfecting wipes due to the pandemic.

I was lucky back in March to score about 8 containers of the pop-up wipes, but now my supply is down to one and it appears like I'll be joining others in looking for a replacement. According to reports, the California-based Clorox usually has a pretty good excess supply for flu seasons set aside, but notes they have been unable to keep up with a six-fold increase in demand for many of its disinfectants since the pandemic began.

It's not just the wipes that finds the company coming up short for supplying their retailers. They are feeling the pinch with their Glad trash bags and Burt's Bees lip balm as well. Dorer notes that disinfectant products such as liquid bleach should become more readily available to consumers in the next four to six months.

Those looking for the now hot commodity wipes will be out of luck for quite some time. "Given the fact that cold and flu sits in the middle of the year, and then we expect the pandemic to be with us for the entirety of the year, it will take the full year to get up to the supply levels that we need to be at," said Clorox President and CEO-elect Linda Rendle.

Clorox, is the world's biggest maker of disinfectant cleaning materials. Since the pandemic fueled surge in the disinfectant products started, they experienced a rise overall company sales by 22% in the quarter.