Housecleaning is an ongoing activity in most homes, a responsibility that most adults either take on themselves or share with others. Busy schedules, however, mean that many consumers clean a little at a time when they have time, placing a premium on products that offer quick cleaning and convenience. Still, in spite of the desire for quick cleaning, consumers derive emotional satisfaction from cleaning the house and place importance on getting the job done right.

This report builds on the analysis presented in Mintel’s Cleaning the House – US, June 2013. It examines consumer attitudes and behaviors toward housecleaning, including the amount of time people spend doing housecleaning, their approach to housecleaning overall as well as to individual cleaning tasks, and their preferences in cleaning product attributes and benefits. The following cleaning tasks are covered:

• Cleaning the kitchen (ie countertop, stovetop, tiles)

• Cleaning the oven

• Vacuuming the floors

• Mopping/sweeping floors

• Polishing/dusting items

• Cleaning the bathroom (ie bath, sinks, tiles)

• Toilet cleaning

• Window cleaning

• Cleaning upholstery/fabrics.

For the purposes of this report, Mintel commissioned exclusive consumer research through GMI to explore consumer behaviors and attitudes toward housecleaning. Mintel was responsible for the survey design, data analysis, and reporting. Fieldwork was conducted in March/April 2014 among a sample of 2,000 adults aged 18+ with access to the internet.

Mintel selects survey respondents so that they are proportionally balanced to the entire US adult population based on the key demographics of gender, age, household income, and region. Mintel also slightly oversamples, relative to the population, respondents that are Hispanic or Black to ensure an adequate representation of these groups in the survey results. Please note that Mintel surveys are conducted online and in English only. Hispanics who are not online and/or do not speak English are not included in the survey results.

Mintel has also analyzed data from Experian Marketing Services using the NCS (National Consumer Study) and the NHCS (National Hispanic Consumer Study), notably: Spring NHCS Adult Full Year – POP, 2008 and 2013

While race and Hispanic origin are separate demographic characteristics, Mintel often compares them to each other. Please note that the responses for race (White, Black, Asian, Native American, or other race) will overlap those that also are Hispanic, because Hispanics can be of any race.

The following abbreviations are used in this report:

Generations are discussed within this report, and they are defined as:

* also known as Generation Y or Echo Boomers