More than half young adults in south east likely to use laundrette of mum and dad

Men more likely than women to take their washing home

DOING your own laundry has been voted the third worst thing about leaving home, trumped only by cleaning and cooking.

The laundry battle reaches a peak for those in their 30s, the age group that were most likely to see washing as the worst household chore - no wonder, considering Brits living with a partner and children are likely to use their washing machine a whopping 260 times a year, which is an average of five times per week.

The new research of 2,000 Brits commissioned by home appliance brand Beko revealed seven in ten Brits are guilty of using their parents’ washing machine, with a further 65 per cent claiming their parents have done their washing for them since they left the family home. However in the South East, people are the least likely in the country to rely on mum and dad to do their washing with just 53 percent admitted their parents had done this for them.

Men are more likely to call in a favour from mum and dad than women, where the figure rises to 75 per cent. Londoners have the highest rate in the country of taking their laundry home, compared to Southampton, where 48 per cent of people would never dream of asking their parents to help with their laundry.

Reasons people are likely to call on their parents include struggling to keep on top of the load (19 per cent), because their mum enjoys doing washing (18 per cent), being too busy (17 per cent) through to the 11 per cent that just cannot be bothered and the 10 per cent who admit there’s no excuse, their parents always do their washing.

Thanks to busy lifestyles and our non-stop schedules, nearly a third of Brits would be more likely to ask their parents to do their laundry, than for a loan.

On average people in the UK stop using their parents’ washing machine at the age of 23, but one in ten admitted that they’ll never stop relying on the “launderette of mum and dad”.

An astonishing 38 per cent of those questioned said they were more than willing to travel an hour just to have their parents exercise their magic touch on their laundry pile and a further 18 per cent would make a trip of up to two hours to have those dirty socks sorted out.

All things considered, 35 per cent of Brits said they would prefer their parents to do their laundry for them full time if they had a choice. In fact, over half of us would rather call mum for laundry advice than go to Google or a friend. Reasons we prefer to use the “launderette of mum and dad”, range from preferring the smell of their washing powder, to the fact it’s cheaper and they have more space for drying.

Of the 2,000 people surveyed, the most common problems encountered when attempting to do their own laundry include; leaving wet clothes in the drum so they ended up smelling (40 per cent), overloading the washing machine (36 per cent) and shrinking clothes (18 per cent). In addition to this 20 per cent admit they rarely check the care label in their clothing.

Marketing Director at Beko UK & Ireland Vijay Bhardwaj said: "We’re not surprised by some of the results in our latest research. Popping home with a bag of washing for mum or dad is something we can all relate to. Most of us would put in a call to our parents if we’re struggling or just don’t know how to wash a delicate item of clothing."