How clean are you? New league table shows how people in the South West scrub up compared to the rest of the UK

By Jamie Hill - 1 June 2018

Community

How clean are you? People in the South West are cleaner than the average person in the UK, but Wales is officially crowned the country’s cleanest region in new league table.

·         Almost 2.3million[1] UK adults never shower  

·         Women spend more time in the shower than men

·         18-24s wash the least often and spend longer in the shower than any other age group

The nation’s cleanest region has been revealed in a new league table from Mira Showers. The YouGov survey of over two-thousand UK adults asked respondents how often they wash (either in the bath or shower). The South West, Scotland, North West, Greater London and the East of England are cleaner than the average person in the country[2]. But Wales is by far the cleanest!

Yorkshire and the Humber on the other hand aren’t scrubbing up so well, with less than half (49%) saying they have a bath or shower at least once a day. In the South West, 66% wash once a day or more. Overall, 62% of the nation either bath or shower once a day or more.  

The survey also examined how long UK adults spend in the shower, and found that the younger people are, the more time they spend. On average, 18-24 year-olds take a staggering 11 minutes and 26 seconds – that’s nearly 4 minutes longer than the average UK adult. The average woman spends 8 minutes in the shower, compared to their male counterparts who spend around 7 minutes.   

Age and gender aside, people living in the South West spend a speedy average of 7 minutes and 34 seconds in the shower. People living in the West Midlands spend the longest time in the shower, with the average resident taking a leisurely 8 minutes and 29 seconds. Those in the East of England are the fastest, at 6 minutes 35 seconds on average. While Wales takes an average of 7 minutes and 35 seconds, 117,378[3] (4%) people here spend longer than 30 minutes in the shower, which is more than any other region.

Nearly 8.3million[4] people stated either a desire to save water or money as a reason for showering for the length of time they do. The South East (24%) and South West (25%) regions gave this reason more than anyone else in the UK - this could have a lot to do with the fact that water suppliers in those regions are among the country’s most expensive[5]. In Northern Ireland, only 2% of respondents said saving money was a reason for spending the amount of time they do in the shower, which is less than any other region in the UK.

18-to-24-year-olds are the least concerned about saving money on water - only 5% gave this as a reason. More than any other age group, they shower for as long as they do because they like to escape reality (20%), compared to an average of 7% of people across the UK giving the same answer. This indicates that young people shower for the love of it more than any other age group. 

Naomi Denniss, a spokesperson for Mira Showers, said: “We were interested to see how the younger generation compared to their parents when it comes to how long they spend in the shower, and were pleased to see they’re enjoying the relaxation they get from it. For many of us, the shower can be a place of sanctuary to take time to reflect and unwind. But in busy households, we’ve seen that arguments can arise between youngsters and their parents over time spent in the shower. Survey results show this is particularly common between parents with children aged 12 to 16.”

Find out what other shower habits we discovered in the full report: UK Shower Habits.

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