Is cleaning a turn-on? The impact of cleaning on relationships

Maintaining the home takes effort and time, much like maintaining relationships. With Valentine's Day approaching, we wanted to examine the connection between cleaning and relationships, examining how cleaning (or a lack of it) can impact current, budding, and potential relationships. 

To find out, we surveyed 1,000 US adults who either currently or have previously lived with a partner, asking them a series of questions related to their relationships and how their cleaning habits affected them.

Key Findings: 

• Over two-thirds of people want their partner to clean for Valentine’s Day.
• More than half of adults find seeing their partner cleaning a “turn-on”, with doing the dishes the biggest “turn-on” chore.
• Nearly three in 10 people judge the cleanliness of rooms they see on dating profiles, with men the most likely to judge the cleanliness shown on a profile.
• Four-fifths of people judge a potential partner on the cleanliness of their home, with the smell of their home the biggest “turn-off” for a budding relationship.
• Over three-quarters of people would consider not moving in with a partner based on their home cleanliness.
• One in 20 people have ended a relationship due to the cleaning habits of their partner.

Keeping the home clean has numerous benefits, from hygiene to mental health, and sharing the load with a partner is often a good way to keep a relationship equal. However, just two in five (39.1%) people say their housework is split equally. 

And the results we collected between men and women were also wildly different. More than two-thirds of women (67.2%) say they do the majority of housework, with just 29.8% saying they feel like the housework and chores are split equally.

In comparison, 51% of men surveyed said the housework and chores are split equally, with nearly two out of five (39.2%) saying they do the majority of the work and less than one in 10 (9.8%) saying their partner does the majority. 

‍These figures support the findings of another of our studies, which revealed that women do $6,431 more hours of housework than men annually.

‍Given the difference in time and how we divide our housework and chores, it’s no wonder that cleaning can be a contentious issue within a relationship. This is why we wanted to know more about its impact.

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Over two-thirds of US adults would like their partner to clean for Valentine's Day.

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With Valentine’s Day approaching, we found that more than two-thirds (69.1%) of people would welcome the gift of having their partner clean the home. 

This figure was highest among women, where nearly three-quarters (73.8%) of women revealed that they’d appreciate their partner cleaning the home as a Valentine’s Day gift. In comparison, less than two-thirds of men would appreciate such a gift. 

Our survey results suggested that people might enjoy having their partner clean the home because it’s a “turn-on” for them, especially when they see them cleaning.

More than half of the US adults surveyed (52.1%) revealed that seeing their partner cleaning is a “turn-on.” 

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‍More than half of US adults find seeing their partner cleaning a “turn-on”. 

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‍Women are the most likely to be turned on by their partner cleaning the home (54.4%), with almost one in five (19.4%) revealing it is “very much” a turn-on for them. Home cleaning is also a “turn-on” for men, with 49.2% saying they are attracted to seeing a partner clean and 17.5% admitting it is “very much” a turn-on for them.

Some chores are more of a “turn-on” than others. Our survey found that doing the dishes is the biggest “turn-on” chore, with over half of 54.9% of respondents saying seeing a partner do the dishes was a “turn-on” for them.

Vacuuming is the second biggest “turn-on” (50.7%), followed by making the bed (48.0%).

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‍The five sexiest chores you can do at home: 

However, the chores that “turn them on” the most differ between men and women. 

Seeing their partner wash the dishes or vacuum the home is the most attractive chore for women. Doing the dishes ranks third for men, behind seeing their partner make the bed or tidy the bedroom. 

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‍Biggest chore “turn-ons”: 

Cleaning doesn't just have an impact on existing relationships — it can also impact dating success.

Nearly three in 10 (29.2%) of those surveyed said they had judged the cleanliness of people’s rooms when they saw them on dating apps, with one in 12 (7.6%) saying they often judge the cleanliness of the rooms people show on their dating profiles.

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A third of men judge dating profiles based on room cleanliness in pictures.

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‍Men were found to be most judgmental about the cleanliness of rooms they see in dating profiles. A third (33%) of men were revealed to have judged a profile based on cleanliness, with 7.7% admitting they often judge the cleanliness of the rooms shown on people’s dating profiles. 

In comparison, just over a quarter of women (26.2%) say they’ve judged a potential date based on the cleanliness of the rooms their pictures show them in.

However, people don’t just judge the cleanliness of the room shown in people’s dating profiles; they actively lead to many skipping and avoiding potential matches. 

Of the 29.2% of respondents who admitted they had judged potential partners based on the cleanliness of the rooms their pictures show them in, nearly three-quarters (72.4%) had skipped profiles for this reason.

Despite women typically being less judgy, they were most likely to skip a profile if they thought the room (or rooms) shown on a profile weren’t clean enough (77.7%). While for men, who are far more likely to judge a profile, the percentage that had actively skipped profiles was just (67.8%).

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‍Four-fifths of people judge a potential partner on the cleanliness of their home.

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‍Even once you’ve entered into a dating stage, it’s still important to maintain a clean and tidy home.

Four-fifths (80.6%) of respondents said that they judge a potential partner on the cleanliness of their home, with women (82.9%) the most likely to judge a potential partner based on the cleanliness of their home, compared to 77.7% of men. 

Potential partners' top concern when judging a home's cleanliness is smell, with 85.1% of people saying this is the area they judge a potential partner's home on most. 

Besides keeping your home smelling fresh for potential partners, unclean bathrooms (e.g., toilet stains) are a “turn-off” for 83.5% of people, while unclean kitchens (e.g., left-out dishes, etc.) “turn-off” 73.7% of people. 

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‍Biggest cleaning “turn-offs” for new partners: 

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A lack of cleaning isn’t just a “turn-off” for many; it can also cause and motivate arguments in relationships. 

Over half (55.9%) of people surveyed said they had argued with partners about cleaning, with women (59.0%) being the most likely to report having arguments about their homes' cleanliness.

However, poor home cleaning or cleanliness can cause more than arguments, leading to breakups or avoiding moving in together.

‍Over three-quarters of people would consider not moving in with a partner based on their home cleanliness.

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‍Over three-quarters (77.3%) of people surveyed admitted they would at least consider avoiding moving in with a partner based on the cleanliness of their partner’s home, with this figure highest among women (80.7%).

Despite this, men are the most likely to have actively done so. Three out of every 50 (5.7%) men admitted they turned down or avoided moving in with a partner due to their partner's home cleanliness, compared to just 4.1% of women.

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‍One in 20 people ended a relationship due to the cleaning habits of their partner.

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‍When it comes to breakups, more than half (56.2%) of those surveyed confessed that their partner’s poor home cleaning or cleanliness had led them to at least consider ending their relationship. 

But, for one in 20 (4.9%), it was divulged that the cleanliness of their home and partner’s cleaning habits were a reason for them ending a relationship previously.

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‍Methodology

‍Between 01/28/2025 and 01/29/2025, 1,000 US-based respondents were asked questions related to their relationships and home cleaning habits, examining how their partner's or potential partner's home cleanliness makes them feel and whether home cleaning can be a source of attraction. At the start of the survey, respondents were screened to count only those who lived or had lived with a partner; in total, 66.7% currently lived with a partner, while 33.3% said they had lived with a partner.

‍Demographics

‍Women = 561 respondents

Men = 439 respondents