- This summer, silent assassins lurk in our gardens as nearly half (41%) of Brits leave their garden furniture outside and exposed to the elements during winter, a new survey reveals.
- Over a third of us don’t ever consider how clean our garden furniture is before using it, leaving 2 in 5 of Brits at risk of ingesting mould
- Despite dangerous bacteria going unseen, 20% of Brits admit to only cleaning their garden furniture when it starts to look grubby
With warmer weather on the horizon, Brits will soon be heading outside to fire-up the BBQ and enjoy lazy days in the garden. However, with two fifths (41%) of Brits leaving their garden furniture fully exposed to the elements during winter, a large proportion will be greeted by a host of bacteria and nasties, leaving 2 in 5 at risk of ingesting mould.
The survey published today by Jeyes has found that over a third (34%) of us do not consider how hygienic garden furniture is before using it. 80% of us are not cleaning our garden furniture properly, despite it being a bedrock for dirt and bacteria. When it does come to giving it a clean, two in five (40%) just give the furniture a once over with soapy water which does not effectively kill nasties.
UK adults reported that environmental damage (63%), mould (51%) and animal droppings (33%) are the worst culprits in dirtying their garden furniture, the survey revealed. These top three perpetrators can be seen by the naked eye, highlighting that we are not considering what we can’t see. Just under a third (30%) of us only clean our furniture when it starts to look grubby and not considering the harmful dirt and bacteria we cannot see.
View the full case study here to find out how we carried out this research and the coverage it generated.
