Stress over Holiday Cleaning Means Startling Shortcuts for Millions of Americans

New Hoover Survey Reveals 71% of Americans admit to fake cleaning during the holidays

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Dec 03, 2014, 06:06 ET

GLENWILLOW, Ohio, Dec. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- A new survey from Hoover, in association with Kelton Global, has revealed that Americans could use some helper elves of their own when it comes cleaning the home for the holidays.

According to the Hoover Holiday Cleanliness Survey, Americans are more stressed over cleaning during the winter holidays than traveling, cooking, unexpected guests popping in, baking, putting up and taking down decorations, or gift wrapping.

Fake cleaning is the norm for many during the winter holidays according to Hoover/ Kelton survey.

Those who would like to receive a vacuum during the winter holidays outnumber those who would give one by 2 to 1 according to the Hoover/ Kelton survey.

A Hoover Air Cordless could be the perfect gift for 67 million Americans who'd like to receive a vacuum during the winter holidays.

Missed a Spot

Why all the angst? It turns out the stress is self-imposed. Nearly half (46%) of Americans say they are their own biggest critic about the cleanliness of their home during the holidays.

And that self-criticism is possibly what leads many Americans to some startlingly sneaky behaviors. The survey found that a whopping 71% of Americans admit to faking a pristine house during the holiday season using tactics like hiding messy belongings behind closed doors (55%), cleaning around decorations (35%), moving furniture to hide stains (14%), and even sweeping debris under rugs (10%).

Those faux-tidy tactics most likely happen in one of two problem rooms. The survey queried Americans about the hardest rooms to tackle over the holidays and the results were clear: the living room, due to all the decorations (35%) and the kitchen due to all the crumbs (33%).

Gift of Easier Cleaning

Would a gift of a vacuum help with all the shortcuts? Possibly. According to survey results, 67 million Americans would appreciate a vacuum under the tree. Still, only 24 million would give a vacuum, suggesting many vacuum appreciators will likely not be vacuum receivers.

Holiday Cleaning Survival Secrets

Based on survey results, Hoover suggests using the stress-relieving SAVE method for holiday preparing.

Straighten: to get things tidy.
Arrange: by repositioning a couch or trading out the books you have on your coffee table to get a fresh look.
Vacuum: To get debris and those important vacuum lines and then
say, "Enough" and relax before you entertain.

Hoover also suggests offering cleaning help to friends and loved ones during the season of giving and asking before ever gifting a vacuum, just to be sure.

Full survey results will be featured over the coming weeks on Hoover.com/blog

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Contact: Patrick Coleman, [email protected]

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SOURCE Hoover