Laundry by the Numbers

Women Dominate

1. 88% of laundry is done by women.

2. The Bureau of Labor Statistics conducted the American Time Use Survey and found that the average American woman spends 17 minutes a day on laundry, compared to 5 minutes a day for men.

3. 22% of moms do laundry daily.

4. 15% of dads do laundry daily.

Laundering a Rhinoceros

1. Washing a US consumers wash more than 660 million loads of laundry every week, about 35 billion loads per year.

2. There are 1,000 wash loads started in the United States every second of every day.

3. The average household washes 2,184 pounds of laundry a year, the weight of an adult black rhinoceros.

4. The average load of laundry contains 16 items.

5. Over 6,000 items of clothing are washed annually.

Life Expectancy

1. Clothing manufacturers estimate the life expectancy of fifty washings for their items.

2. The average child wears THREE outfits on a typical day.

3. 52% of Americans feel stains are most important when doing laundry.

Water Temperature

1. 50% of all washing loads are done in warm water.

2. 35% of all washing loads are done in cold water.

3. 15% of all washing loads are done in hot water.

4. 90% f all wash loads are put in the dryer.

Laundry Habits

1. A single load of laundry takes an average of 1 hour and 20 minutes to complete from wash to dry.

2. 77% of people read tag instructions prior to washing clothes.

3. 23% of people never read tag instructions prior to washing clothes.

Laundry Sacrifices

1. 30% of Americans would give up wine/beer/liquor if they could skip laundry for a month.

2. 27% of Americans would give up bacon if they could skip laundry for a month.

3. 24% of Americans would give up swearing if they could skip laundry for a month.

4. 21% of Americans would stop using social media if they could skip laundry for a month. Sources: CHRON.com CleaningInstitute.org TheSun.com Novozymes.com