Survey by Filtrete Brand Reveals Americans Are Ditching the Duster for Cleaning Shortcuts

ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Long gone are the days when a white-glove test is what determined a clean home from a dirty home. According to recent survey commissioned in May 2012¹ by Filtrete filters from 3M, the most obvious indicator of a clean home for the majority of home owners is when it is tidy and organized (60 percent) or smells fresh (25 percent) — not the thick layer of dust that lines the bookshelves.

These survey findings reveal shortcuts and cover-ups homeowners take to conquer household to-do lists and avoid the embarrassment of a dirty home:

Dirty Little Secrets
Homeowners are lying about how often they clean and taking shortcuts to get the job done.

• Instead of putting in the elbow grease, 87 percent admit to taking shortcuts to avoid cleaning the home:
  • Almost half of homeowners admit to closing off a room from guests (46 percent) and hiding clutter in closets (44 percent). Parents are the worst offenders with more than half (52 percent) claiming to have tucked away items in closets.
  • One in four homeowners (28 percent) have dusted with their hand when in a pinch.
  • About one in four homeowners (27 percent) confess to throwing something away rather than returning it in its proper place.
• About one in three (36 percent) homeowners say they have lied about how often they clean the home. With only 24 hours in a day, it’s not surprising that 32 percent of homeowners have let three or more weeks slip by between house cleanings.
• Homeowners dislike cleaning so much, 70 percent of homeowners said assigning cleaning chores is more likely to cause an argument than TV remote control privileges.

Red in the Face
Homeowners are cleaning to avoid embarrassment and have gone to extremes to ensure the home smells fresh for houseguests.

• Homeowners are more embarrassed to show a dirty home to a neighbor (28 percent) than to their parents (21 percent), boss (19 percent), in-laws (18 percent) or best friends (14 percent).
• 64 percent of homeowners have even gone to extreme measures to rid their homes of pungent odors, such as replacing a rug or carpet (34 percent), purchasing a new trash can (26 percent) or replacing a couch or another piece of furniture (17 percent).

To help homeowners avoid the embarrassment of lingering odors, one easy cleaning shortcut is to upgrade to the new Filtrete Odor Reduction furnace filter. The Filtrete Odor Reduction Filter is the most effective² odor-reduction one-inch filter at helping to remove odors throughout the home — such as those from cooking, tobacco smoke, pets, mildew and cleaning chemicals — while also helping to improve the air quality in the home. In fact, it is 65 times more effective² than other carbon filters at removing odors from the air passing through the filter.

For more information on Filtrete home filtration products, visit www.Filtrete.com and register to receive seasonal e-newsletters featuring special offers, filter change reminders, better home living tips and more. Find us on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/Filtrete) and on Twitter (@Filtrete).

About Filtrete Filters
Filtrete Brand makes an entire line of air filters for your heating and cooling system to suit your home and your lifestyle. Air cleaning filters help reduce large airborne particles such as household dust, pollen, mold spores and pet dander from the air passing through the filter. An odor-reduction filter removes odors, such as those from cooking, tobacco smoke, pets, mildew and cleaning chemicals. High performance filters capture microscopic airborne particles such as smoke, smog, pet dander and particles that can carry bacteria and viruses. It is recommended that you change your filter at least at the start of every season or every three months. Doing so can help your heating and cooling system run more efficiently and therefore last longer.

About 3M
3M captures the spark of new ideas and transforms them into thousands of ingenious products. Our culture of creative collaboration inspires a never-ending stream of powerful technologies that make life better. 3M is the innovation company that never stops inventing. With $30 billion in sales, 3M employs 84,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 65 countries. For more information, visit www.3M.com or follow @3MNews on Twitter.

Filtrete and 3M are trademarks of 3M. © 3M 2012

¹ This survey was conducted by an independent firm, Wakefield Research, among a sample of respondents who have forced heat and/or central air conditioning in their home. The study was conducted in May 2012. A total of 1,001 qualified surveys were received. The margin of error for total responses is +/- 3.1 percent.
² Based on comparison of organic vapor capacity versus other national retail furnace filter brands