Carolyn Bick, special to wtop.com
WASHINGTON – Vacuum cleaners across America may be gathering dust — and not in a good way.
Kenmore surveyed 1,029 American adults online last month to find out how often they use their vacuums.
The survey found 10 percent of those surveyed only vacuum when they know company is coming.
In fact, 49 percent of those surveyed admitted they only clean when the see dirt and don’t bother to move the furniture. They skip areas under rugs, and under and behind furniture.
Most of these corner-cutters are women.
The vacuum-keeping company says these infrequent cleaning habits could mean survey respondents are missing more than 100,000 dust mites per square yard of carpet.
One-third of the all the women between 18 and 54 who responded said they clean every day, while half of these women ages 35 and older said they clean weekly. The survey did not offer any data on how often men clean.
The survey conducted by Russell Omnibus also found a majority people 55 and older said their kitchen floors are the dirtiest floors in their houses. Of younger respondents, only 41 percent said their kitchen floors are the dirtiest.
When it comes to taking off their shoes to keep dirt and allergens from being tracked in, the survey found 50 percent don’t bother.
Super cheesy Kenmore video:
WTOP’s Brennan Haselton contributed to this story. Follow Brennan and WTOP on Twitter.
(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
