Britons spend eight years of their lives on housework

Brits will spend nearly eight years of their lives doing household chores, a study has found.
Household choresHousehold chores
Household chores

Cleaning, ironing, food shop shopping and even walking the dog means the average adult spends just under three hours a day on domestic tasks.This amounts to 20 hours and 55 minutes a week - the equivalent of 45 days a year or seven years and 10 months of the average adult lifetime.But despite the staggering amount of time already spent on chores, one in five say they would do more if they weren't so busy.And one in four went as far as to say they 'enjoy' doing the housework.Jenny Questier from cleaning experts Jeyes, which commissioned the research, said: "A few hours of chores here and there might not seem too bad, but when you add it all up over time, it amounts to a large chunk of our lives."As a nation, we're known for being quite house proud and as a result we are often found cleaning or generally tidying up our homes and gardens."But it means our spare time is taken up with doing these little jobs to make sure our home and garden is looking its best."The study of 2,000 adults found that cooking takes up the most time, accounting for four hours and 13 minutes each week.Washing up and cleaning the kitchen takes up to an hour and 38 minutes a week, while just over an hour is spent cleaning the bathroom.Another hour a week is spent ironing, while vacuuming takes up to an hour and seven minutes and laundry accounts for one hour and 42 minutes.As well as other household chores, Brits also spend an average of one hour and 11 minutes a week walking the dog and one hour and 40 minutes food shopping.But it's not just the inside of the home which takes up so much of our time with around an hour and a half spent washing the car each month and an hour and 26 minutes pottering around in the garden.Sweeping, cleaning and pressure washing the driveway and patio also accounts for three hours a month.It also emerged that cleaning the oven is the most disliked chore, followed by washing and cleaning the windows, vacuuming the stairs, dusting and removing mould from the shower tiles and grouting.Defrosting the freezer, ironing shirts and removing hair and dirt from a plug hole also feature, with unblocking a sink and cleaning the skirting boards completing the top 10.Researchers also found 68 per cent of people spend more time on indoor chores than they do on outdoor ones, and 78 per cent of people have been put off gardening if the weather looks bad.But while 47 per cent clean regularly anyway, 84 per cent will go to more effort if they have a visitor coming around.A lucky one in 20 even said they currently employ a cleaner to do most of the chores for the, with another 49 per cent saying they would do so if they had unlimited funds.Time spent on chores per week:1. Cooking 4 hrs 13 mins2. Washing clothes 1 hr 42 mins3. Weekly food shop 1 hr 40 mins4. Washing up and cleaning the kitchen 1 hr 38 mins5. Gardening 1 hr 26 mins6. Walking the dog 1 hr 11 mins7. Cleaning the bathroom 1 hr 08 mins8. Hoovering 1 hr 07 mins9. Ironing 1 hr 01 min10. Tidying the bedroom 50 mins11. Changing beds/towels 47 mins12. Dusting 44 mins13. Tidying cupboards 39 mins14. Sorting wardrobe 32 mins15. Washing the windows 32 mins16. Decorating 26 mins17. Cleaning the car 24 mins18. Sewing/mending clothes 22 mins19. Driveway cleaning 17 mins20. Patio cleaning 16 minsTotal - 20 hours and 55 minutes a week on choresTop 30 most disliked chores in the home1. Cleaning the oven2. Cleaning the windows3. Hoovering the stairs4. Dusting5. Cleaning mould from shower grouting6. Defrosting the freezer7. Ironing shirts8. Removing hair from plug9. Unblocking the sink or plug hole10. Cleaning the skirting boards11. Cleaning the bathroom12. Taking out the rubbish13. Doing the washing up14. Moving furniture to clean behind15. Cleaning glass shower doors and panels16. Cleaning out the fridge17. Removing limescale from the shower head18. Removing limescale from the tiles19. Fixing a toilet flush20. Cleaning your barbecue21. Fixing a leaky tap22. Mowing the lawn23. Fixing/sewing/repairing an item of clothing24. Mending broken floor tiles25. Sorting out a bedroom cupboard26. Hoovering under the sofa cushions27. Polishing silver/ornaments28. Painting walls - touching up scratches/marks29. Organising the garage30. Cleaning garden furniture