The Most Troublesome Part of Laundry is "Drying" -- Yet Half Still Dry Outdoors | Rank+ (Rank Plus) Survey of 1,000 People

The Most Troublesome Part of Laundry is "Drying" -- Yet Half Still Dry Outdoors | Rank+ (Rank Plus) Survey of 1,000 People

Ibridge Inc. (Headquarters: Fukushima-ku, Osaka; President and CEO: Kazuya Arakawa), which operates the ranking site "Rank+ (Rank Plus)", conducted a survey on "laundry" among 1,000 men and women nationwide aged 20 to 50.

First, when asked about "the most troublesome household chore," cleaning ranked first (32.0%). Laundry came in third with 11.4%, a surprisingly modest position. However, when laundry was broken down by process, the true nature of the trouble became clear. The most troublesome task was "drying" (23.1%) -- and it was ranked first across all age groups.

Despite this, exactly half (50.3%) of respondents typically dry their laundry "outdoors." Only about 10% use a dryer. While washing is left to the washing machine, drying still requires human effort -- this seems to be the "now" of laundry in Japan.

Key Survey Findings

1 Ranking of Most Troublesome Household Chores -- "Cleaning" is 1st, Laundry is 3rd

The household chores that feel "troublesome" seem to differ slightly between men and women.

When 901 people who do household chores were asked about "the most troublesome household chore," cleaning ranked first with 288 people (32.0%), followed by cooking with 196 people (21.8%), and laundry with 103 people (11.4%). On the other hand, 179 people (19.9%), about 1 in 5, answered "there are no particularly troublesome chores." Compared to cleaning and cooking, the "trouble" of laundry appears to be modest. Nevertheless, when asked about each process separately, the trouble is concentrated in "drying" -- we will look at the details in the next point.

Incidentally, while cleaning and cooking were cited as "troublesome" more often by women, laundry was the only chore where the percentage of men (13.1%) exceeded that of women (9.9%).

[Related Article]

Ranking of Troublesome Household Chores | What Rank is Laundry? | Survey of 1,000 People

2 Most Troublesome Laundry Task, 1st Place is "Drying" -- Common Across All Age Groups

When 632 people who find laundry tasks troublesome were asked about "the most troublesome task," "hanging laundry to dry" ranked first with 146 people (23.1%). "Folding" followed with 101 people (16.0%), and "pre-washing, stain removal, soaking" with 77 people (12.2%).

"Drying" was ranked first in all age groups from their 20s to 50s. Regardless of age, the peak of laundry seems to be "drying."

[Related Article]

This is What's Troublesome About Laundry! Ranking | Survey of 1,000 People

The most troublesome task is "drying" (23.1%).

3 Deciding Factor for Detergent/Fabric Softener Choice, 1st Place is "Cleaning Power" -- More Than 2.5 Times Higher Than 2nd Place

Deciding Factor for Detergent/Fabric Softener Choice, 1st Place is "Cleaning Power" (37.5%).

When 738 people who usually do laundry were asked about the deciding factors when choosing detergent or fabric softener, "cleaning power (stain removal)" ranked first with 277 people (37.5%). This was a decisive result, with a gap of more than 2.5 times over the second place, "cost performance/price" with 103 people (14.0%), and third place, "deodorizing/anti-odor effect" with 88 people (11.9%).

Despite the diverse appeals of detergents, such as fragrance and time-saving, "whether it removes stains" was the central reason for selection.

[Related Article]

Asked 1,000 People! Ranking of Deciding Factors for Detergents and Fabric Softeners

4 Entrusting to the Washing Machine, But Not the Dryer? Half of Drying Methods are "Outdoor Drying"

Laundry drying methods (for 738 people who usually do laundry)

For usual drying methods (main one), "drying outdoors" ranked first with 371 people (50.3%), exactly half. Combined with "drying indoors" at 265 people (35.9%), nearly 90% chose to "dry." Clothes dryers accounted for 48 people (6.5%) and bathroom dryers for 47 people (6.4%), with dryers combined accounting for about 10% (12.9%).

What's interesting is the time of day dryers are used. Among those who do laundry in the morning, only 7 out of 260 people (2.7%) use dryers, but among those who do laundry at night, 41 out of 185 people (22.2%) use them, an increase of more than 8 times. Morning means the sun, night means the switch -- Japanese laundry seems to operate by taking the best of both sun and machines.

[Related Article]

Laundry: Outdoor Drying, Indoor Drying, or Dryer? Drying Method Ranking

Survey Overview

Survey Method: Internet Survey (Freeasy)

Target Audience: Men and women aged 20-59 nationwide

Valid Responses: 1,000 people (500 men, 500 women)

Survey Period: June 29, 2026

Survey Sponsor: Ibridge Inc. (Rank+ Editorial Department)

Detailed survey results can be viewed on the following pages:

- Ranking of Troublesome Household Chores | What Rank is Laundry? | Survey of 1,000 People

- This is What's Troublesome About Laundry! Ranking | Survey of 1,000 People

- Asked 1,000 People! Ranking of Deciding Factors for Detergents and Fabric Softeners

- Laundry: Outdoor Drying, Indoor Drying, or Dryer? Drying Method Ranking

Future Outlook

Rank+ will continue to provide unique content based on data while expanding the range of themes it covers, and will strengthen collaboration with SNS video content to support more users in making "slightly better choices."

Official SNS Accounts

YouTube youtube.com/@rankplus_jp

Instagram instagram.com/rankplus_jp

X x.com/rankplus_jp *Short videos and Reels of ranking articles are being released sequentially.

Service Overview

Service Name: Rank+

Release Date: April 15, 2026

URL: https://rankplus.co.jp/

Content: Ranking information site based on user surveys

About Operating Company "Ibridge"

Company Name: Ibridge Inc. (https://ibridge.co.jp/)

Location: Osaka Headquarters: J-Pro Fukushima Building, 6-13-6 Fukushima, Fukushima-ku, Osaka Tokyo Office: Yoshino Bldg. 2, 3F, 1-6-6 Nihonbashi Bakurocho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Representative: Kazuya Arakawa, President and CEO

Establishment Date: August 1999

Main Businesses: SaaS Business, Media Business, EC Business

List of Operated Media

Freeasy (Self-service survey tool) https://freeasy-survey.com/

Fruit Mail (Point site) https://www.fruitmail.net/

Kensho Box (Sweepstakes information site) https://kenshobox.net/

Otona no Shuumatsu (Gourmet mail-order site) https://www.otoshu.com/

Contact Information

Rank+ Editorial Department

Mail: [email protected]