New CLR® Study Finds Americans Are Most Often Motivated to Clean When Friends Visit

SKOKIE, Ill., April 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Are you only inspired to clean when you know that friends or family are on their way over? Do you find your cleaning habits are vastly different than those you live with? Turns out you are not alone. According to a new survey commissioned by CLR (www.jelmar.com), 64 percent of Americans are most commonly motivated to clean their home when they have friends coming over.

On the heels of CLR’s 2014 research, a “CLR Cleaning Confessions 2.0” survey was conducted by TNS to further examine the cleaning habits and attitudes of U.S. adults as well as generational differences in cleaning habits. Beginning with the flagship calcium, lime and rust remover (CLR) and expanding to include a Mold & Mildew remover and Stain Magnet stain remover, the CLR family of products has helped solve people’s toughest cleaning problems for more than 20 years.

“We were surprised to see that Americans are most often motivated to clean when friends visit,” said Alison Gutterman, president of Jelmar. “Whether it’s your old college roommate, or your mother-in-law coming to town, we want to make it as easy as possible to quickly clean up by the time they arrive.  With this year’s survey we wanted to explore what little details people notice when staying at other people’s homes. I think we’ve found that there are some common challenges that are easy to remedy.”

Additional survey highlights include:

  • What’s That Smell?: When staying over at other people’s homes, Americans most often notice unpleasant odors, with 51 percent crinkling their nose at something stinky.
    • Other things people notice include clutter (48%), dirty toilet bowls (47%) and dirty kitchen countertops and stovetops (43%)
    • This makes sense since according to the survey, Americans’ top two dreaded household chores are cleaning the shower or bathtub (46 percent) and cleaning the toilet (40%).
  • Whose Job is It Anyway?: Over six in ten Americans (62%) wish they had discussed cleaning rules and responsibilities before moving in with their roommate(s) and 34 percent wish they had discussed cleaning rules and responsibilities before moving in with their significant other or spouse.
    • However there is a shared lack of responsibility. Half of Americans (51%) report they clean the bathroom by themselves, with only 5 percent reporting that someone is paid to clean the bathroom in their home.
    • When it comes to the chore of cleaning one’s house, the majority of Americans (62 percent) wish they could hire someone.
    • Women are significantly more likely than men to report doing all of the bathroom cleaning by themselves (60 percent vs. 42 percent).
  • Generation Clean: Nearly half of parents (45 percent) agree, they would rather stay in a hotel than stay in their adult child’s messy home.

METHODOLOGY

The CLR survey was conducted using the online omnibus services of TNS from February 19 — 23, 2015 among a nationally representative sample of 2,500 Americans 18 years of age or older. The margin of error for total Americans 18+ is ±1.9%. If the study were replicated, the findings would not vary by more than 1.9 percentage points in either direction 95 times out of 100.

ABOUT JELMAR, LLC:

JELMAR is a leading manufacturer of a broad range of household cleaning products, including CLR® and Tarn-X® brands of cleaners. Flagship CLR products include CLR Calcium, Lime and Rust Remover, CLR Bath & Kitchen Cleaner, CLR Mold & Mildew, CLR Stain Magnetand CLR Septic Treatment and Drain Care. With their unique formulas, the CLR brand gets the cleaning job done in virtually every area of the home. For more information visithttp://www.jelmar.com.