Bathroom Secrets
The bathroom habits and questions we're too afraid to share!
Going to the bathroom is something we all do every day of our lives, but it's not necessarily something we talk about all that often.
What goes on behind that door usually stays private... Until now that is! We've asked regular Brits to reveal some of their bathroom habits, as well as analysing Google search data to reveal just how weird (or normal) we actually are in the privacy of our own lavatory.
The UK's bathroom secrets revealed
We polled everyday Brits to find the answers to some of the questions that we're usually reluctant to talk about, including our nastiest bathroom habits and what causes the most arguments!
What causes the biggest arguments in the bathroom in your house?
The bathroom can be one of the most contentious rooms in the house, especially in the last year or so when we've all been spending so much time together and tensions have maybe been a little bit higher.
The most common cause of bathroom-related domestics was actually leaving an empty toilet roll behind, which sparked just under a quarter (24.4%) of all arguments.
In second place was leaving the bathroom in a mess and leaving towels and clothes behind was third, but tellingly, just 1.5% of people said that there were no arguments relating to the bathroom in their house.
Interestingly though, men were more likely to be riled by their partners and children not cleaning the bathroom with 13.75% of men listing it as their top gripe, compared to 10.98% of women.
How many times do you have a shower or bath each week?
It's different for everyone, but it's recommended that you wash at least once every couple of days and thankfully, that seems to be the case for most.
However, 2% of people in our survey actually said that rather than showering or taking a bath, they prefer to use wet wipes! And a further 4.6% said that they don't bathe or shower at all!
How many of the following do you do in the bathroom?
Next up, we asked people to own up to some of their more embarrassing bathroom habits. The most common was weeing in the shower, which 71% of people admitted to doing, while just one in ten said that they sometimes neglect to flush after they've done their business.
In addition, just over a third of people said that they took the unconventional step of standing up to wipe after using the toilet, while a majority (58%) admitted to using the shower for sex!
Do you fold or scrunch toilet paper?
Finally, the million-dollar question. There are two types of people in the world: those who fold and those who scrunch.
And our survey revealed that the national is remarkably split between the two, with the scrunchers just edging it, 51% to 49%!
The most commonly searched bathroom questions
There are some things that we possibly wouldn't necessarily ask out loud, but that's where Google comes in!
Always on hand to answer the questions we might be a bit too embarrassed to ask in real life, what are the bathroom-related queries that more people have asked than any others?
1. Why is my poop green? - 1,967,000 annual searches
That's right, the bathroom question that was asked more than anything else wasn't to do with keeping the toilet clean or carrying out renovations, but rather, why is my poop green? After all, it's understandably something which might cause a bit of worry, so maybe we shouldn't be surprised to see it so high on the list. Fortunately, it's not usually something you should be concerned about and means that food may be moving through your intestine a little too quickly and hasn't been properly broken down.
2. How to unclog a toilet - 1,460,500 annual searches
In second place was a slightly more conventional question, that of how to unclog a toilet, with just under one and a half million annual searches. It's the sort of thing that you'd rather not think about until it actually happens, but if you find yourself with a blockage, it's good to know that Google is on hand to help! Methods include using a plunger, vinegar and baking soda, hot water and dish soap, bleach, or if all else fails, calling out a plumber.
3. Where to buy toilet paper - 878,790 annual searches
In normal times, the fact that over 800,000 people had to ask the internet where to buy toilet paper would seem bizarre, but 2020 was very far from normal. The initial days of the coronavirus pandemic saw surges of people stocking up on toilet paper, leading to many shops running out of stock. Let's hope that searches for this one aren't quite as high in the coming year!
Methodology
Surveyed 1,501 people in the UK in March 2021 using Google Surveys.
Search data was sourced from Google Ads Keyword Planner and refers to global searches made between February 2020 and January 2021.