When I was growing up in Yorkshire, spring-cleaning was practically an Olympic sport. You’d see women on their hands and knees, scrubbing their front steps or loudly beating their carpets, and the smell of Vim would hang in the air in clouds. If my memory serves me correctly, some of them actually had curlers in, à la Hilda Ogden. But according to the new 2026 Good Housekeeping Spring-Cleaning Survey, times have changed... today, just one in five GH readers do a full and thorough spring-clean - with window-washing the most hated chore of all.
The main enemy of the traditional spring-clean? You guessed it: time. Although seven out of 10 appreciate the zingy, transformative power offered by an annual deep-cleaning session, 46% are doing smaller, more regular ‘resets’ instead. Many of the rest of you have figured out clever systems that work around your lives – dividing spring-cleaning into manageable chunks and tackling things room by room.
That’s not the only thing that’s changing. Over half – 55% – of GH readers now define ‘spring-cleaning’ as an opportunity to have a clearout and get rid of things you don’t need. For those who do a full spring clean, bedrooms are the top priority for 66%, with bathrooms not far behind at 56%. And when it comes to the jobs you dread most, washing curtains, throws and cushions tops the list for 14%. Deep-cleaning the oven or fridge isn’t far behind (11%), while window-washing – inside or out – is the biggest turn-off of all, hated by 23%.
Happily, there are some spring-cleaning jobs we genuinely enjoy. Decluttering wardrobes and drawers takes the top spot, with 22% of us happily clearing space. Freshening up mattresses and upholstery follows (14%), while 12% love donating, recycling or selling items on.
The majority of you pride yourselves on your housework – with only 21% saying doing chores makes you grit your teeth. You’re also a traditional lot when it comes to cleaning products, with a whopping 71% of GH readers still using the same traditional tried-and-tested cleaning methods our grannies employed, including baking soda, vinegar and water.
There’s joy to be found not only in a clean home, but in the process. One in three spring-cleaning devotees find it satisfying, and one in eight of you actively look forward to it. ‘Do it on a sunny day and reward yourself with a nice dinner with wine after,’ says one reader, who can come round to my house any day of the week. ‘Put some music on, so that you can dance while you do it,’ says another. ‘Make sure you’re in the mood and have a good podcast ready.’
You like a tried-and-tested method: 69% rely on the same approach year on year, working through your homes room by room, task by task. When it comes to decluttering, one in three use GH’s Declutter by Degrees method, or approaches similar to it, tackling tidying-up in small chunks.
Over half of you (55%) spend no more than a day getting the spring-clean done and dusted. Others prefer a gentler approach, with 22% cleaning little and often – while around one in five (19%) spread the job out over a few weeks. For 69% of you, nothing says ‘This house is clean’ quite like freshly vacuumed carpets and gleaming floors. Meanwhile, 64% reckon organised, tidy communal spaces are key – and for 59%, it all comes down to one thing: well-scrubbed loos.
