"How to Clean...?"
A Report on Lockdown Cleaning
Lockdown is definitely getting to us. From Tik Tok trends to baking forays, all of us are finding different, elaborate ways to fill our time.
And of course, as we are almost all stuck in our houses more than usual, we’re starting to notice all those cleaning jobs that have gone undone for weeks, months, years.
According to our latest research, people in the UK are searching for ways to clean things around their house up to 300% more often than this time last year. Windows, decking, ovens and toilets have all seen an increase during the nation’s time indoors.
What are We Cleaning?
Across the board, 75% of cleaning terms we assessed have seen an increase in searches compared with last year.
We searched cleaning terms related to laundry, home cleaning and personal hygiene. The biggest changes were seen in home cleaning, while laundry terms saw the lowest search interest comparatively to last year.
The leading terms from each category:
Home Cleaning
Hygiene
Laundry
Even though “how to clean washing machine” is the most-searched term in the study, its year-on-year growth ranks it 26th on the list overall.
Year-on-Year Changes
To get an accurate picture of how our cleaning habits have been influenced, we’ve identified the terms that have seen the highest increase in searches in comparison to last April.
With window cleaners also self-isolating, it looks like Brits are trying in vain to clean their own windows. “How to clean windows” has jumped by over 300% since last April, showing the true depth of our lockdown desire for time-killing. other big winners include laptop screens, which may have gone uncared-for for ages before we started staring at them every day while working from home.
One of the biggest villains of home cleaning, the oven, takes positions 3 and 4, with many deciding now is the right time to tackle the job.
Full Search Terms Listing
We’ve identified key cleaning terms covering everything from old coins to sex toys, separated out into home cleaning, hygiene and laundry.
Methodology
We used Ahrefs to identify the most common search terms relevant to the home which were prefixed by “how to clean”. We then separated these terms into three distinct categories, relating to home cleaning, personal hygiene and laundry.
We then used SEO Monitor’s Search Trends after COVID-19 tool to find the difference in search volume year-on-year for each term.