Cleanup was conceived and designed by Parsons graduate Hideaki Matsui, in 2006. His senior thesis project pairs an innovative design with a non-profit organization to promote their mission.

Hideaki grew up with exposure to images of landmine devastation through photographs his parents displayed. When he was presented with the opportunity to partner with a nonprofit organization for this thesis project, landmines were his first choice.

Soap can be molded into any shape, and soap diminishes and disappears with use. From this Hideaki created a very poetic metaphor for landmine removal - as the soap disappears, so do the landmines. Through its use, Cleanup enables people to participate in the campaign against landmines with a simple, everyday occurrence.

Cleanup was one of three Parsons senior thesis projects chosen for development through Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy's class entitled Social Entrepreneurship Through Design in September 2006. Following the completion of their studies two of the Milano students incorporated in August 2007 as the Social Entrepreneurship Network, Inc. (SEN), to bring this and other civic-minded products to market.