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What is the UK's most hated chore?

04/06/2024

Cleaning, tidying, housework, chores. Whatever you call it, it’s a necessity for everyone, but also something that very few people actually enjoy. And over a quarter of the nation (28%) spend more than three hours a week doing it – that’s 156 hours a year or around 7 days!

With a good clean always a hot topic, tombola surveyed the British public and their 160,000 strong Facebook community to uncover the most detested and time-consuming chores across the country.

Cleaning the oven is Britain’s most hated chore

It’s official, Brits hate cleaning the oven more than any other chore. Over a third (35%) voted for this time-consuming bit of housework as ‘the worst’, with ironing taking second place and washing/drying the dishes coming in third. 

Bathrooms are voted the worst spaces to clean

The room that the nation hates to clean more than any other is the bathroom. Over a third (38%) voted this the worst space to spruce up, but in second place was the garden or outdoor space. 
A quarter of Brits said they particularly hate external cleaning jobs, such as windows, gutters and pressure washing – maybe the unpredictable weather is the cause of this?

Laundry is the most time-consuming housework

According to the survey, the most time-consuming chore is laundry, taking up almost a quarter of the nation’s weekly cleaning time. Washing and drying dishes came in second and ironing in third – they also made the top three most hated chores list too.

Top tips to reduce time spent on the nation’s most-hated chores

If you’re one of the many who hate these chores, tombola has shared some amazing cleaning hacks to save you time.

Cleaning the oven

• To remove stubborn stains, mix white wine vinegar and baking soda into a paste.
• Spread over the inside of the oven and glass door.
• Leave for at least 30 minutes but ideally overnight.
• Wipe clean.

Ironing

• Remove the ironing board cover and spread tin foil over the board, tucking the foil underneath.
• Replace the cover.
• The foil will now reflect the heat onto the underside of the garments, acting as a second iron which makes the job speedier!

Washing/drying the dishes

To keep your water as clean as possible, work from the cleanest dishes to the dirtiest in this order;

• Glasses
• Cutlery
• Plates
• Pots and pans

This will save you from having to re-fill your washing up bowl several times, meaning you get the job done quicker.

Author bio: Adam Vent is one of tombola’s Content Executives. When he’s not belting out Queen B hits, you can find him glued to reality TV with his fur baby Zeus. His articles mostly focus on fun facts and life hacks. 

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