People in the UK are having to regularly re-wear dirty clothes and underwear due to not being able to afford to wash them, according to research, from smol. A quarter of adults now experience hygiene poverty, frequently struggling to afford to wash their clothes- having had to deprioritise in favour of food, electricity and period products.
A third in hygiene poverty have had to re-wear dirty underwear. 28% are regularly re-using dirty sheets, over two thirds have had to re-use unclean pyjamas and almost half of parents have had to have their children re-wear dirty clothing. Over a quarter of those in hygiene poverty have had to wash their clothes with washing up liquid, whilst 28% have avoided using the washing machine altogether due to electricity costs.
A third have avoided leaving the house in the past month due to feeling self-conscious about a lack of clean clothes. One said: “Certain members of my family are embarrassed by me”, another said that “the smell pushes people away”. smol is setting out to give 250,000 laundry capsules to The Hygiene Bank to ensure those struggling will have the means to wash their and their family's clothes, in its fifth year of partnering with the charity.
Lucy Wishart, of smol said: “Everyone should have access to clean clothes, in order to live their life to the fullest - and our research has found that there are extensive ways in which a lack of access to clean clothes can impact a person’s life.
“With hygiene poverty increasing, people are having to make difficult decisions between heating, eating and being clean- and warmer weather poses its own challenges, with 42% of those surveyed concerned that this will mean they need to wash their clothes even more. It has never been more important for us to help make a difference by supporting The Hygiene Bank to help people up and down the UK impacted by hygiene poverty- because everyone deserves to be clean.”
Lizzy Hall, founder of The Hygiene Bank, said: “We’ve seen that laundry detergent has become one of the most in-demand hygiene products at our hygiene banks, as people are often having to prioritise the fundamentals to keep them fed and warm. But smol’s research shows the significant impact that access to clean clothes -something we often take for granted- has on our health and our livelihood, and the detrimental impact on those who struggle to afford it.
"Everyone deserves to feel clean, but with the amount of people in the UK experiencing hygiene poverty continuing to rise, campaigns like Clean Clothes Can are needed more than ever. We’re asking the public to help us meet our target of raising a quarter of a million washes to help ensure that access to clean clothes isn’t a luxury, but a right.”
