French top world cleanliness study

THE FRENCH pay more attention to their personal hygiene than people in neighbouring countries, a new study comparing nine countries has claimed.

The poll, commissioned by a Swedish manufacturer of hygiene products, found French women spent an average of 46 minutes a day on hygiene and French men 35 minutes. Half of respondents in French believed they spent more time now than a decade ago.

Some 97% of women in France said they felt uncomfortable leaving the house without having brushed their teeth or showered.

Forty per cent of French women considered applying make-up to be part of their daily personal hygiene routine, saying they would feel awkward if they were not wearing any.

More than half of respondents in France said they had stopped visiting public toilets because they were worried about hygiene.

The survey polled 7,000 people in nine different countries: France, the UK, Germany, Austria, China, Russia, the US, Mexico and Sweden.

Georges Vigarello, a French historian specialising in hygiene, told L'Express: "Cleanliness has become a very big French preoccupation. The Swedish spend less time, but the colder weather and lower level of pollution could explain that."

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