Results of our National Cleaning Survey – How Dirty is Your Partner?
Some people would say that cleaning is a necessary evil? It is our business after all, so we set out to understand who does most of the cleaning in UK households? Is cleaning a shared responsibility or does one partner care about it more than the other?
The results from 16 questions are detailed below, they may surprise you! Here are the highlights but don’t forget to check out the free form comments that can be accessed from the PDF links below. They do make for some interesting reading!
- 44% of respondents said that cleaning is a contentious issue in their relationship.
- 69% of respondents said that a clean house is very important to them
- 77% of respondents had a male partner and 22.45% of them don’t even notice the mess!
- 40% of partners who notice a mess will leave it and see what happens!
- 6% of people only put a wash on when they have had to wear the same shirt twice!
- 56.5% of respondents say the kitchen should be the cleanest room in the house.
Here is what some of our respondents had to say…
He is a lazy pig who expects me to do everything cos that’s what Mummy did. If he were to lift a finger to help, I’d be checking his temperature to make sure he was feeling alright. I teach our son how to do chores as I refuse to raise a lazy, chauvinistic piglet!
As with most men he leaves it all to me. He pretends he ‘can’t’ clean. Boo bloody hoo! I’ve even taught him step by step how to clean the loo, but he seems to have permanent amnesia afterwards!
Cleaning has never been a contentious issue in our house because on the rare occasion he does something, he does such a poor job that I have to do it again, so what’s the point? It is quicker to do it myself.
Our relationship will be ending with the issues caused by his lack of effort being one of the main reasons.
In general marriage would be a lot happier if men helped women more around the house. It should be a team effort with the mutual goal of enjoying spending time in a clean and tidy house and not be worried about unexpected guests turning up.
When did ‘because I hate cleaning’ become an excuse for not doing it and leaving it for your wife?
He’s happy to live like a pig in the proverbial!
It annoys me that the majority of cleaning still seems to be done by females. Males generally just don’t seem to see it. Gggrrrrr!
I like the bathroom clean. Who wants to bath in someone else’s’ DNA?
Not too worried which room is the cleanest, the Missus does it all, so its never dirty!
Survey Results
Q1: Are you male or female?
Answered: 150 / Skipped: 1
ANSWER CHOICES | RESPONSES | |
---|---|---|
Male | 20.67% | 31 |
Female | 79.33% | 119 |
TOTAL | 150 |
Q2: Is your partner male or female?
Answered: 148 / Skipped: 3
ANSWER CHOICES | RESPONSES | |
---|---|---|
Male | 77.70% | 115 |
Female | 22.30% | 33 |
TOTAL | 148 |
Q3: Are there children in your house under the age of 16?
Answered: 150 / Skipped: 1
ANSWER CHOICES | RESPONSES | |
---|---|---|
Yes | 44.00% | 66 |
No | 56.00% | 84 |
TOTAL | 150 |
Q4: How important is a clean house to you?
Answered: 150 / Skipped: 1
ANSWER CHOICES | RESPONSES | |
---|---|---|
Very important | 69.33% | 104 |
Not that important | 27.33% | 41 |
I don’t even notice the mess | 3.33% | 5 |
TOTAL | 150 |
Q5: How important is a clean house to your partner?
Answered: 147 / Skipped: 4
ANSWER CHOICES | RESPONSES | |
---|---|---|
Very important | 38.10% | 56 |
Not that important | 39.46% | 58 |
They don’t even notice the mess | 22.45% | 33 |
TOTAL | 147 |
Q6: What percentage of the household cleaning do you do on average compared to your partner?
Answered: 150 / Skipped: 1
ANSWER CHOICES | AVERAGE NUMBER | TOTAL NUMBER | RESPONSES |
---|---|---|---|
67 | 10092 | 150 | |
Total Respondents: 150 |
Q7: What percentage of the household cleaning does your partner do on average compared to you?
Answered: 149 / Skipped: 2
ANSWER CHOICES | AVERAGE NUMBER | TOTAL NUMBER | RESPONSES |
---|---|---|---|
34 | 5029 | 149 | |
Total Respondents: 149 |
Q8: In your opinion which room in your house should be the cleanest, and why?
Answered: 148 / Skipped: 3
Q9: Once you’ve noticed that something needs cleaning, do you?
Answered: 150 / Skipped: 1
ANSWER CHOICES | RESPONSES | |
---|---|---|
Clean it up | 80.67% | 121 |
Tell your partner | 5.33% | 8 |
Leave it and see what happens | 13.33% | 20 |
Hide the evidence | 0.67% | 1 |
TOTAL | 150 |
Q10: Once your partner notices that something needs cleaning, do they?
Answered: 150 / Skipped: 1
ANSWER CHOICES | RESPONSES | |
---|---|---|
Clean it up | 34.00% | 51 |
Tell you | 22.67% | 34 |
Leave it and see what happens | 40.67% | 61 |
Hide the evidence | 2.67% | 4 |
TOTAL | 150 |
Q11: Which of the following do you clean the most?
(Rank 1-6, No.1 = what you clean the most)
Answered: 150 / Skipped: 1
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | TOTAL | SCORE | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Car | 10.53% 14 | 0.75% 1 | 4.51% 6 | 15.04% 20 | 23.31% 31 | 45.86% | 133 | 2..23 |
Bathroom sink | 10.95% 15 | 37.96% 52 | 33.58% 46 | 10.22% 14 | 5.84% 8 | 1.46% 2 | 137 | 4.34 |
Kitchen sink | 46.43% 65 | 23.57% 33 | 15.00% 21 | 8.57% 12 | 2.14% 3 | 4.29% 6 | 140 | 4.91 |
Sports kits/uniforms | 9.09% 12 | 6.06% 8 | 13.64% 18 | 37.88% 50 | 10.61% 14 | 22.73% 30 | 132 | 2.97 |
Shoes | 2.08% 3 | 6.94% 10 | 3.47% 5 | 19.44% 28 | 47.22% 68 | 20.83% 30 | 144 | 2.35 |
The toilet | 23.65% 35 | 26.35% 39 | 29.73% 44 | 10.14% 15 | 4.73% 7 | 5.41% 8 | 148 | 4.38 |
Q12: When do you know that the washing needs doing?
Answered: 149 / Skipped: 2
ANSWER CHOICES | RESPONSES | |
---|---|---|
Once the basket is overflowing | 18.12% | 27 |
When you’ve noticed that your rugby shorts/gym kit are missing | 2.68% | 4 |
When you’ve had to wear the same shirt twice | 6.04% | 9 |
I put washing in on a regular basis | 73.15% | 109 |
TOTAL | 149 |
Q13: How highly do you think your partner would rate you in how tidy you are?
(10 = super tidy)
Answered: 149 / Skipped: 2
ANSWER CHOICES | AVERAGE NUMBER | TOTAL NUMBER | RESPONSES |
---|---|---|---|
63 | 9490 | 150 | |
Total Respondents: 150 |
Q14: Is cleaning a contentious issue in your relationship?
Answered: 150 / Skipped: 1
ANSWER CHOICES | RESPONSES | |
---|---|---|
Yes | 44.00% | 66 |
No | 56.00% | 84 |
TOTAL | 150 |
Q15: What do you notice first?
Answered: 150 / Skipped: 1
ANSWER CHOICES | RESPONSES | |
---|---|---|
Dirty dishes | 28.67% | 43 |
Food spillages | 6.00% | 9 |
Untidiness | 24.67% | 37 |
A full bin | 5.33% | 8 |
A layer of dust | 1.33% | 2 |
Dirty worktops | 16.00% | 24 |
Dirty toilet | 15.33% | 23 |
Dirty floors | 2.67% | 4 |
TOTAL | 150 |
Q16: Is there anything else you would like to tell us about the issue of cleaning within your household or related to your partner?
Answered: 82 / Skipped: 69