When Matt Cook brought the initial idea for Mozi Wash to his sisters, they sent him back to the drawing board. Now, some four years and much viral success later, he’s glad they did.
The Brigham Young University graduate, who went through the school’s entrepreneurship program, originally set out to develop an environmentally friendly detergent brand with scents that catered to men. His sisters urged him to do a range of scents that wasn’t pigeonholed by gender.
“Thankfully, I listened,” he says. “My core customers are people who typically do laundry for their household and want to improve the entire experience, from washing to wearing.”
Self-funded brand Mozi Wash cost about $20,000 to create and is projected to reach $1.5 million in sales this year. The brand’s plant-based laundry detergents priced at $35 each stand out with colorful display-worthy metal packaging, but fragrances inspired by candles and colognes are their main selling point. Bestseller Cozy Cashmere has amber, floral and chocolate notes. Another popular scent is Central Coast, a blend of sandalwood, citrus and lavender.
“I see [Mozi Wash] as a bridge between home goods, personal care and beauty,” says Cook says. “It’s a cleaning product in the end, but at the same time there is no denying the confidence it gives you knowing you smell good. I can’t think of many other products that turn a chore into an enjoyable way to feel good about yourself.”
Before Mozi Wash, he adds, “I noticed that all laundry detergent sort of smells the same. There seemed to be a few variations of floral or fresh scents that didn’t necessarily smell bad, but there was not much variety compared to shampoos, colognes, etc.” Also, he notes, “There was no masculine-scented detergent, or if there was they weren’t doing a good job of getting the word out.”
After working on Mozi Wash sporadically from 2019 to 2021, he became serious about it at the end of 2021 when a dirt bike injury forced him to have more downtime. He says, “I decided it was a perfect time to jump in and finally try.”
Through late 2022, Cook was validating Mozi Wash’s concept and pinning down production logistics. Early on, he made its detergents himself. “Things didn’t really get anywhere until [spring] of 2023 when I had my first big video on TikTok,” he says. “That’s kind of what I consider the start of Mozi Wash as it is today.”
Cook describes the video in question as an “aesthetic laundry video.” It features footage of a “dreamy laundry spot” by the beach and offered a peek at Mozi Wash’s bottle. The video received over 1 million views, but didn’t yield much revenue. Cook says, “This worried me because I was kind of banking at the time to get a viral video to jumpstart my brand.”
“I want Mozi Wash to be a household name in the laundry room.”
What did help the brand, however, was the way Cook managed comments. For every question a TikTok user asked, he shared a video response. Ultimately, videos he posted in the comments generated greater sales than the video that spawned the comments. Cook says Mozi Wash went from “from a handful of sales a day to hundreds when a video did well.” The brand has 64,000 followers and 3 million likes on TikTok.
The demand spike led to an inventory quagmire. Cook recalls, “My small batches would sell out, and it would sometimes take almost three months to get [inventory] in again…I definitely missed out on some growth by being sold out, but it was a good lesson in demand trajectory.”
Cook’s quick to acknowledge the influence of TikTok on Mozi Wash’s business. “The most successful marketing tactic has been TikTok organic by far,” he says. “I am just now dipping my toes into paid marketing on other platforms, and it is going pretty well, but it’s hard to beat an organic video doing well. Our success on TikTok is what jumpstarted the brand, and without it I don’t think Mozi would be where it is today. TikTok took us from zero to 100 very quickly—probably too quickly—but I am not complaining.”
Mozi Wash has been evolving its organic social media strategy. Instead of following trends, Cook is relying on storytelling, giving followers behind-the-scenes looks at what it takes to run a small business.
@moziwash Why did I start a laundry detergent company?
“I just keep people updated on what I’m doing in building the brand,” he says. “I’ve made videos on improving the packaging, changing the formula and picking new scents. I also make videos about problems I face like inventory issues, being small in regards to huge brands like Tide, funding constraints, etc.”
Mozi Wash is sold direct-to-consumer through its website and is on TikTok Shop and Amazon. “I plan on staying this way for a while,” says Cook. “I think direct-to-consumer is the way to go until I am really ready to handle the likes of Target, Urban Outfitters and so on. You only get one shot at that, so I definitely want to be ready when the opportunity comes, to be sure that we crush it in stores.”
In the meantime, Cook is focused on managing inventory and keeping sales up. Product launches are coming soon, including an unscented detergent and two new scents. Eventually, Cook foresees Mozi Wash branching out to offer cleaning products, candles and linen sprays, but he insists the brand will always stay true to its roots.
Cook says, “I want Mozi Wash to be a household name in the laundry room.”
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