Brits ‘worried about being judged’ spend most of Christmas doing 1 thing

Christmas hosts worry more about being judged on the state of their home than the food they serve. A poll of 2,000 adults found nearly one in five (19%) of hosts said the biggest thing they fret about their guests judging is the cleanliness and tidiness of their home – more so than how the Christmas dinner tastes or the presents they’ve bought.

This worry is impacting how they’ll spend the day itself, with the average Brit spending more than two hours cleaning and tidying their house on Christmas day, compared to just one and a half sitting down and eating their Christmas dinner. It may also be why 15% felt making their house spotless before people arrive is the most difficult part of the festive period.

The study, commissioned by Unilever, maker of cleaning brands, also found for those fearing remarks from critical guests, they’re most worried about receiving these from their own mother (25%) or mother-in-law (22%).

Chet Henderson, head of consumer insights at Unilever Home Care, which has also launched a new Cif multi-purpose spray specifically formulated to provide a longer-lasting clean on a range of surfaces, said: “Our homes have become increasingly important to us as they reflect who we are and how we live.

“This is even more evident during the festive period when we invite friends and family round to celebrate, and fear of judgement on the cleanliness of our home means we spend more time cleaning than eating Christmas dinner.”

After receiving the ‘we’re on our way’ text, hosts will spend an average of 14 minutes doing a rapid ‘festive spruce’ before guests’ arrivals.

As such, many rely on ‘hacks’ to keep their homes at their best in front of festive guests.

The most popular cleaning hacks included only focusing on visible surfaces, hiding clutter in cupboards, and using multipurpose cleaner for everything. Two in 10 prefer to simply close the doors on messy rooms. Whereas 10% of Gen Zs specifically will choose to light a candle and hope for the best, or dim the lights to hide mess.

When guests do arrive, the cleaning doesn’t stop there – more than a quarter (26%) will ask guests to take shoes off upon arrival, with nine% avoiding cooking certain foods that might stain, such as cranberry sauce and gravy.

A further 19% avoid buying decorations based on their mess potential, like a needle shedding tree.

While nine% of respondents polled via OnePoll.com have even neglected to invite guests round who have a reputation for being messy.

The UK’s favourite Christmas cleaning tasks were also revealed as decluttering cupboards (19%), hoovering (16%) and cleaning the fridge (16%).

With the most dreaded being cleaning the oven (32%), removing black mould (19%) and scrubbing bathrooms (17%).

Chet Henderson added: “It’s clear that during this busy time of year people are turning to cleaning hacks for quick results, which is where using the best product for the job also cuts down on cleaning time.”