Millennials are being blamed for falling sales of fabric softener because 'they don't know what it is for.'

Sales of the product have been falling for past ten years and Procter & Gamble believes the next generation is to blame.

The consumer goods giant, which produces Downy and Gain fabric softener, says it saw sales of its own products decrease by 26 per cent.

Millennials are being blamed for falling sales of fabric softener over the past decade

Shailesh Jejurikar, Procter & Gamble's head of global fabric care, told the Washington Post that most millennials 'don't know what the product is for.'

Millennials are also more likely to be concerned about the environment than other generations and may be choosing to avoid fabric softener over concerns that the chemicals in them could be harmful to humans and marine life.

It is not just millennials that are at fault.

Since fabric softener was introduced in 1960, there have been huge improvements to washing machines and detergents.

Sales of the product have been falling for past ten years and Procter & Gamble believes the next generation is to blame

That means that clothes come out of the wash feeling much much softer than a few decades ago.

Athletic wear, much of which cannot be washed in fabric softener, has also become more common.

Procter & Gamble is attempting to target millennials by rebranding their products as clothes conditioner.

The name deliberately parallels the name of hair-conditioner, something millennials are familiar with.

It is not only fabric softener sales which are down because of millennials.

The cereal industry has reported a 30 per cent drop in sales over the past 15 years as many in the age group choose the convenience of protein bars or to skip breakfast altogether rather than clean up after themselves, according to a Mintel report in the New York Times.

Experts believe that millennials have not been buying fabric softener as they don't know what it is

Often portrayed as lazy, addicted to social media, and irresponsible in the media, even Millennials themselves seem to view their own generation negatively.

More than half of millennials, 59 per cent, described their generation as 'self-absorbed,' while almost half - or 49 percent - said they were 'wasteful,' and 43 per cent said they were 'greedy.'

Millennials 'stand out in their willingness to ascribe negative stereotypes to their own generation,' the study said.