Pandemic Hasn’t Improved People’s Enjoyment of Cleaning

After more than a year-and-a-half of spending more time at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, you may think people have learned to enjoy cleaning. But while people now have a greater understanding of the important role cleaning plays in health, that doesn’t mean they have come to love the task.

A new survey by home services website Angi finds that although over half of people are stressed out by messy homes, 69% don’t clean to relieve stress. In fact, cleaning is a stressor in itself, with 28% of survey respondents revealing clutter is the most stressful household mess.

Although some psychologists believe cleaning can feel good because it provides a sense of control over your environment, most the of the survey respondents disagreed and preferred exercising, yoga, or meditation as stress coping methods.

The survey of 1,500 Americans looked at people’s attitudes, likes, and dislikes about cleaning. It identified other stressful messes including:

• A sink full of dirty dishes (22% of respondents)
• A messy kitchen (18%)
• A dirty bathroom (16%)
• A dirty floor (9%)
• Piled-up laundry (7%).

When asked what cleaning chore they found most annoying, survey respondents replied:

• Cleaning the bathroom (26%)
• Dusting (22%)
• Picking up clutter (16%)
• Washing dishes (13%)
• Doing laundry or vacuuming (both 10%)
• Cleaning the kitchen (5%).

Aside from hiring a professional cleaning company or home organizer to tackle household cleaning and clutter, experts recommend homeowners break up large tasks into manageable chunks with a cleaning checklist.