Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
With new research showing that 1m Britons never clean their toilets, Mintel says there is a clear opportunity for cleaning brands to re-engage with consumers over tedious tasks.
Mintel’s household cleaning study found that while cleaning the toilet is a weekly task for 36% of people, many are considerably less fastidious about the smallest room. Fifteen per cent clean their toilets on a less than weekly basis, with 8% wielding the loo brush just two to three times a month and 2% – or 1m people – never cleaning their toilets at all.
Richard Caines, senior retail analyst at Mintel, said that the findings showed “a wide variation in different people’s approach to household cleaning, ranging from the almost excessive to those who are in danger of putting the health of themselves or their family at risk through a lack of attention to toilet cleaning.
“There’s definitely an opportunity for brands to re-engage consumers with what can be seen as a tedious task. Longer-lasting results and more powerful formulas should be the focus for encouraging purchase of more specialist cleaning products.”
Mintel found that people living in the Midlands are the most likely to clean their toilet once a day or more (12%) and the least likely to clean less than once a week (10%). By contrast, those living in the north and Yorkshire and Humberside clean least frequently.
Washing-up is the most frequently carried out cleaning task, with 59% of people doing this chore once a day or more. But cleaning the oven and windows is the job we are most likely to ignore, with 45% admitting they clean their oven once a month or less.
The study also found that 68% of women still do most of the cleaning in the home, with just 28% of men taking on the central role in the cleaning department.
In addition, says the research, 4% of people have totally given up on ever having a clean and tidy home.
