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

Male/Female
ANSWER CHOICES	RESPONSES
Male	20.67%	31
Female	79.33%	119
TOTAL		150

Q2: Is your partner male or female?

Answered: 148 / Skipped: 3

Partner: Male/Female
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

Children under 16?
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

Clean house importance
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

Partner: clean house importance
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

How much cleaning
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

Partner: Cleaning compared to you?
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

Bathroom. It’s where you go to get clean, so needs to be clean!

The bedroom as that’s where, in the words of Marvin Gaye, we “get in on”. Not to forget the legend Mr Lionel Rich tea, “all night long”

Our living room. We can shut the door on the other rooms if we have unexpected guests. If people turn up, the living room is always clean and tidy.

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Q9: Once you’ve noticed that something needs cleaning, do you?

Answered: 150 / Skipped: 1

Something requires cleaning
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

Partner: Something requires cleaning
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

Most cleaned
	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

When does washing get done?
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

How would partner rate your tidiness?
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

Cleaning a contentious issue?
ANSWER CHOICES	RESPONSES
Yes	44.00%	66
No	56.00%	84
TOTAL		150

Q15: What do you notice first?

Answered: 150 / Skipped: 1

Which do you notice first?
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

He doesn’t realise how much I do. I always think he notices what I don’t do rather than what I do.

I can’t bear water marks on the taps, or a dirty toilet. He seems to create both. If I didn’t clean on a regular basis it would just build up because he doesn’t do much.

I wish she would do a bit more. Sometimes it can cause arguments as she’ll just leave stuff. She also has a habit of putting a wash on and mixing colours up. I have lost count of the number of ‘pink’ shirts I have!

He is a lazy pig who expects me 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.

I like to think there’s a fair split with chores. He works longer hours than me so I do a bit more in the house. I draw the line at ironing his shirts though…

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