Cleanliness-conscious men are now just as hot on hygiene as women, research has revealed. The study of 2,000 adults showed the stereotype of men turning a blind eye to personal hygiene is in fact a thing of the past.
The report found on average men wash their hands, change their bed sheets and clean their teeth just as often as women.
It also emerged that while men's hygiene habits have improved, the situation in general isn't quite as good- half of people admit they don't always wash their hands after going to the toilet.
Women are, however, still quicker to replace bathroom essentials like towels and communal hand towels.
The research was commissioned by Cuticura Anti Bacterial Hand Wash, and their spokesman commented on the findings:
''There is often a common perception that men are less competent when it comes to keeping themselves at a good standard of hygiene, but these results show that isn't the case.
''In recent years we've become a lot more conscious of bacteria and the importance of cleanliness in our domestic lives and it's clear to see that men are just as aware of this as women.
''Of course, there will always be a difference in opinions between genders, things like wearing underwear more than once will always be open to debate, but it's encouraging to see that people are taking fewer risks, cleaning their hands more regularly and living as cleanly as they can.''
The report also found that men are not only happier to leave towels for longer, but they will often use the same towel to clean both their hands and face.
However, men wash their hands more before eating, wash their hair more frequently and hop in the shower almost as much as the girls.
While men are clearly improving their day to day washing routines, they are still much more likely to wear the same pair of underwear more than once - with four in ten owning up to doing this often.
Men are also more likely to seek out time in the toilet, with one in four men using the toilet as a refuge (spending around 35 minutes a day on average hiding out).
While women are happier to sit there in silence, men are much more likely to need a distraction, reaching for their mobile phone or iPad whilst taking a break in the bathroom.
They'll also wear clothes longer before washing them, thinking it perfectly reasonable to wear socks twice and jeans at least five times.
While surprisingly, more women than men claimed they only ever wash something if it smells or is visibly dirty.
Microbiologist Professor Anthony C. Hilton said:
''One hundred thousand bacteria can come into contact with your hands every time you dry them with a used hand towel.
''In fact, hand towels should really be washed at least once a week. Whenever you use a towel, skin cells stick to the fabric and provide food for bacteria.
''Used hand towels are often left in a damp condition which enables bacterial contamination to rapidly multiply at room temperatures; this increases the risk of spreading infections, such as cold and flu.''
Although men are making great strides in the hygiene battle, it's still the boys that are more likely to go whole days without washing their hands.
While it appears that when it comes to keeping clean the focus should be less on gender and more on age - with the younger generation far more lacking in terms of cleanliness.
18-24 year olds leave both their bed sheets and towels to fester more than twice as long as a person over 50.
Amazingly, one in eight people under the age of 24 said they never bother to wash their hands after going to the toilet.
HYGIENE SCORES
| Men | Women | |
| Washing Hands | 10 times a day | 10 times a day |
| Changing bedsheets | Every 26 days | Every 23 days |
| Changing towels | Every 18 days | Every 15 days |
| Changing hand towels | Less than once a fortnight | More than once a fortnight |
| Wash hands before eating | 26% | 30% |
| Go whole day without washing hands | 21% | 16% |
| Clean teeth | Twice a day | Twice a day |
| Wear underwear more than once | 42% | 23% |
| Wash hair | 24 times a month | 22 times a month |
| Shower | 26 times a month | 27 times a month |
| Time spent in toilet each day | 35 minutes | 31 minutes |
© Plastique1 | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos
