Australia’s most hated household chores and tech helping make them easier

These are Australia’s most hated household chores and the new tech helping to make them easier to do. See the list and have your say.

Chore? What chore?

What is your most hated household chore?

When the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria posed this question in May last year, 12 per cent of the survey group chose laundry.

True, laundry fared much better than cleaning the oven (23 per cent dislike that one) and cleaning the bathroom (21 per cent) but let’s be honest: laundry duty doesn’t feature on anyone’s list of favourite pastimes.

But there are ways of improving our experience – and the laundry room itself is often the weakest link. Most often the smallest “living” room in a home, it routinely suffers from layout issues and that lack of functionality combined with high frequency makes the space and laundry routine sub-optimal.

The good news is that small spaces are easy to update.

Consider calling time on all white. Picture: supplied

DIY dime-saver

If your budget is limited, you can make your own benchtop.

Hardware stores have ready-made ones from laminate to timber that can be attached with batons and brackets. And if the old laundry tub is a rusty eyesore, trash it and install a deep sink (in a forgiving matte black) to add a spacious vibe.

Hide and seek

Yes, that means hiding annoyingly clumsy items such as brooms and mops in a cupboard with a door, not hanging them on the wall. Also, hide all those boxes, sprays and bottles in a compact under-bench drawer system.

You’d be amazed how much you can fit in well-organised, deep drawers.

Even the iron can be stashed within easy reach. The Kaboodle range of products is inexpensive and interchangeable – drawer units, cupboards, benchtops and shelving are designed to work in custom configurations.

Nobby Kitchens can also plan a cohesive laundry design.

The Laundry Jet: kids will want to join in on the ‘chores’.

Chute to score

There are excellent new products and designs adding spark to the process, including the Laundry Jet system, just released in Australia.

A vacuum-powered laundry chute that sucks dirty gear right out of your hands.

You have to watch the video.

It’s amazing – and timesaving. It’s not cheap, but it will likely excite more help from family members – and that’s priceless.

Position, position, position

“You don’t need a large space for it to function well,” says Kaboodle kitchen and laundry design specialist John Harrison.

It’s often a matter of clearing the visual plane to make it appear smooth and uncluttered, which makes it feel more spacious. So should we consider unstacking the machines?

“Generally, positioning your washing machine and dryer under bench is a better use of space, as it allows for a more functional benchtop area,” says Harrison.

“If you want to avoid clutter and mess gathering, we recommend adding as much concealed storage as possible.”

Be bold with your colours – even consider matte black.

Bright lights, bold colours

Consider calling time on all white.

Colour can be used in a cute splashback (try easily installed coloured acrylic) or floor tiles. It’s 2023, so don’t think clinical, think fun.

Ensure lighting is bright and maybe sneak Alexa in for company. Sorting whites from colours is less dreary if you have Bethany Frankel for company.

Also check out retractable, remote controlled, ceiling (not wall) mounted clotheslines with heating included, offering year-round convenience. Clever.

Prue Miller is The Fixer, here to answer all your home improvement and renovation problems. Email The Fixer will your questions: [e-mail]

Originally published as Australia’s most hated household chores and tech helping make them easier