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Our bathroom bugbears revealed

Announcement posted by Canstar Blue 26 Nov 2014

Canstar Blue releases Bathroom Cleaners – Most Satisfied Customers Award

When it comes to annoying bathroom habits, nothing gets our blood boiling more than people urinating on the toilet seat. And our bathroom blunders often lead to arguments.

A new survey from consumer research company Canstar Blue shines a disturbing light on the extent of our bathroom frustrations, with people using up all the toilet paper (43%) and hair in plugholes (41%) rounding off our top three nightmare scenarios. But urinating on the toilet seat or the floor around it angers most, with 52% of adults declaring it a major bugbear.

“There’s nothing worse than finding a toilet seat covered in urine because some inconsiderate so-and-so couldn’t hit the target,” said Canstar Blue spokesman Simon Downes. “And if there’s no toilet paper left to clean up after them, you’ll be close to boiling point.

“There’s a good chance it could lead to tension at home, as a quarter of the adults we questioned told us they regularly fight with their partner over the cleanliness of their bathroom.

“Although women get more heated about people not cleaning the toilet seat – or the floor around it, because sometimes you can have really bad aim – it annoys a good number of men too. You know the old adage, if you sprinkle when you tinkle, please be sweet and wipe the seat.”

People leaving the bathroom floor wet or leaving wet towels lying around is another major annoyance for just over a third of the 2,300 people surveyed, as is toilet paper facing the wrong way (32%) and people leaving the toilet seat up (30%).

Other common pet hates include people leaving the cap off the toothpaste and those who use toothbrushes or razors that don’t belong to them. However, we don’t seem too bothered about running out of handwash (18%) or people simply taking too long in the bathroom (18%).

The survey also found that 60% of women and 51% of men will do anything they can to avoid using a public toilet, while nine out of 10 respondents declared their own bathroom as being generally clean. Despite that, 16% said they argue over who does the cleaning.

“We found that women are still doing the majority of bathroom cleaning – and seem fairly happy to do so, probably because they don’t trust their partners to do a good job,” added Downes. “A whopping 85% of the women we surveyed said they do the bathroom cleaning and more than half of them believe nobody else could do a better job of it.”

OzKleen – makers of Shower Power – has received Canstar Blue’s Most Satisfied Customers Award for bathroom cleaning products. The brand which boasts cleaning products that “actually work” earned five-star ratings from Australian consumers for effectiveness, ease of use and overall satisfaction, wiping the floor with 17 other well-known brands, including Dettol, Domestos, Jif and Ajax.

“Naturally the effectiveness of bathroom cleaners is the biggest driver of satisfaction for consumers and OzKleen was the only brand to achieve a five-star rating in this area,” said Downes. “You only need to take a quick walk through your local supermarket to appreciate what a competitive industry this is, so to come out on top of 17 other brands is a fantastic result for OzKleen.”

Our top bathroom bugbears:

Urinating on the toilet seat or floor 52%

Running out of toilet paper 43%

Hair in plugholes 41%

Wet towels or floor 36%

Toilet roll facing the wrong way 32%

Leaving the toilet seat up 30%

People not washing their hands 29%

Leaving the cap off toothpaste 22%

Not using exhaust fan 21%

Someone else using my toothbrush 20%

People taking too long 18%

Running out of handwash 18%

Someone else using my razor 13%