Kiwis’ kitchen cleaning habits exposed

Tag: china cupboard

Greg Brown, 3M New Zealand, Managing Director says: “It is reassuring to know that Kiwis have confidence in their cleaning products, and sponges can certainly be used for all of these purposes. However, you wouldn’t smear dog food all over your wife’s best china. We all know that to avoid transferring bacteria, we should be using a different sponge for each job.”

Over a third of people surveyed admitted to questionable kitchen hygiene habits in their own homes but are rather less tolerant of it in other people’s.

Thirty-nine per cent admit to wiping up a spill on the kitchen floor with their kitchen sponge, and then using it to clean the dishes. However, 52 per cent would not accept a second invitation to dine at a friend’s house if they saw their friend do the same thing.

A significant majority of us blatantly shirk our dishwashing responsibilities with 82 per cent stating they would leave a pot “to soak” to avoid washing it when it was their turn to do the dishes.

Dishwashing avoidance is commonly taken to extravagant lengths with 47 per cent of respondents admitting to having thrown out a pot because it was too difficult to clean.

“There are many products available to take the pain out of pot scrubbing and it is unnecessary to throw pots and pans away because they are dirty,” says Mr Brown, “Perhaps we need to work smarter, not harder on our pots.”

It appears that love conquers all when it comes to kitchen hygiene, with an overwhelming 94 per cent of respondents saying they have not broken up with someone because they have found their kitchen hygiene habits lacking.