Cleancore

Other Names: Safetycore, Hygienecore

What is Cleancore? An aesthetic centered around cleanliness in a more literal sense: soaps, sanitizer, antiseptics, and so on.

Main Ideas:Cleanliness, hygiene, anxiety, nostalgia

Colors: Pale blue, white, teal, mint green, pastels, vibrant colors

Motifs: Sanitizing items, recently cleaned places, cleaning sprays, soaps, sponges, sterile environments, laundry pods, clean water, hygiene products, bath toys, rubber ducks, bubbles

Origin: This aesthetic was made "...in April 2014 on a Tumblr blog named Safety Corp, created by Redeem Pettaway. Pettaway conceived Safety Corp as a response to emerging subcultures within the Net .art community and a means to analyze societal shifts following 9/11 and the internet's evolution. The project explored questions about who deserves protection, how systems create false safety, and how certain groups are neglected. Pettaway's blog used the sign-off "Stay Safe" as a forewarning and a call for vigilance. The aesthetic and its related terms like #Safetycore, #Cleancore, and #Antibacterial, gained traction on Tumblr. Pettaway's work, which included discussions on viruses, capitalism, hygiene, and community through isolation as early as 2014, anticipated themes that became prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic." [1] (direct quote, the writer explained beautifully)