Londoners spend a third more on home and DIY than those in the North of England, a new study from Sainsbury‘s reveals.
Time pressed Londoners buy the most cleaning aids to help keep their properties spick and span and purchase more dusters than any other region along with more wipes and bleach. But figures show they buy fewer dishwasher tablets and are the highest consumers of washing up liquid. However, this could have more to do with the lack of space for a dishwasher in small London flats, than a love of doing the dishes by hand. The biggest users of dishwasher tablets are in the wider South East, followed by Northern Ireland. The North of England, including the North East, North West and Yorkshire, are less likely to spend money on bleach, other anti-bacterial products and oven cleaner.
Northern Ireland‘s residents like to keep their knick-knacks shiny, being the most likely to splash out on silver and metal polish. Customers in Scotland reveal their romantic side as the largest purchasers per head of scented candles, while air fresheners are most popular among people living in the West Midlands.
When it comes to a breakdown between the sexes, not surprisingly women buy far more cleaning products than men, however, figures show men are now responsible for just over a quarter of all cleaning product buys, suggesting an increase in men doing the shopping as well as a rise in the number of men now living alone. Although men lag far behind women in their number of purchases, the study did reveal one area where men buy more than women – oven cleaner. Their next highest spend was on washing up liquid, followed by dishwasher tablets. The sharpest difference in spend was seen in the purchase of scented candles with men spending 50 per cent less per person than women.
Older shoppers are definitely fans of more traditional methods of cleaning. Sales of silver polish are eight times higher among the over 75s than 18-24 year olds. Adults aged 25-34 would appear to favour convenient cleaning aids such as wipes, buying twice as many as the over 65s.
Older customers also favour air fresheners to keep their homes odour free whereas scented candles are most popular among 25-34 year olds.
Sainsbury‘s said: “Some of the differences in buying habits between men and women we expected, but others were a complete surprise. Looking at the amount of oven cleaner bought by men, either they are desperate to clean up their failed attempts to get on Master Chef, or they are earning some serious brownie points with their other halves by doing the really grubby kitchen job everyone hates.”
“It was fascinating to look at the statistics and discover how house-proud we are as a nation and although spending habits varied across the country, with some choosing convenient wipes while others favoured bleach and elbow grease, the one obvious common denominator was a determination to keep our homes spick and span.‘‘
