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Home and Garden on Female First
The days are getting longer and the first daffodils have bloomed; according to new research by leading floorcare brand Vax, this means spring has officially arrived. Closely on its tail is the countdown to the annual spring clean. On average, Brits will be blitzing their homes to greet the new season on the 13th March.
But what exactly is the UK spring clean routine? Most will be flying solo when it comes to making their homes ship-shape and say they don't have any help at all (51%). But perhaps this is fair, as most of those in charge of cleaning their household admitted that they are in fact the messiest! Almost three quarters will be playing their favourite tunes to make the session more fun and nearly half will enjoy vacuuming the most.
Those doing the spring clean mostly dislike how long it takes, as well as the physical demand of it (69%). This may be why many have a tendency to sweet talk some helping hands in their households. But these helpers will reap the rewards as some of the UK confessed they have bribed others to help them clean - around two fifths of those that do use romantic gestures and some family members have made some money (35%) from helping, whilst nearly a third has been happy to lend a hand for just a cup of tea (30%).
Their efforts could be questionable though as 65% of people admit to taking cleaning short cuts. More than a quarter of Brits said they have sprayed air freshener to make it smell like they've cleaned. Plus, almost a fifth (19%) just throw rubbish into the normal bin rather than bothering to recycle whilst 17% admit to buying a new product such as a frying pan rather than cleaning the old one!
We might raise our game if we were planning a friendly dinner party, as it seems we save our VIP cleaning routines, surprisingly not for our parents but for our friends! Most of us spend one to two hours cleaning for visitors (62%). Almost three quarters of us (74%) clean more when guests come round and 41% clean the most for their pals, compared to only 20% who clean for a visit from their parents.
Gadgets and modern cleaning appliances are another popular cleaning incentive. More than four in ten people said they would be more inclined to do a job they didn't like with a machine. More than a third would most like a handy device to assist with tricky oven cleaning. Almost half of us though are motivated by a "clean home clean mind" mantra. Just under half of respondents said (49%) they clean to be hygienic and for peace of mind.
The spring clean blitz is a novelty in most busy households which now tend to choose a little and often cleaning approach. Almost seven in ten respondents said (69%) they spend just half an hour or less per day cleaning their home. More than half (54%) clean their home just two or three times per month or even less.
Vax cleaning expert, Christina McDaid added "Time is precious. We all have busy lives and don't want to spend too long cleaning, so we need products that are fast and effective. At Vax we've seen a real shift in customer needs, cleaning needs to be easy. That's why we've designed our Cordless range; so that powerful quick cleans really are possible. And our Steam Cleaners don't just have lots of tools; they have the right tools to do the jobs we all love to hate. Our advances in technology mean cleaning doesn't have to be hard work - you can get the job done quickly and then get on with your life."