Shower, underpants, bra… the habits of Europeans

"Pépé le polecat", from myth to reality…

IFOP / Xlovecam survey on Europeans' relationship to hygiene after the Covid crisis

Are the clichés about the lack of cleanliness of the French justified when compared to their main European neighbors? Did the forms of clothing and body “letting go” (e.g. no bra, no underpants, etc.) observed in France during the confinement(s) resist the return to a normal life? Do the hygienic practices of Europeans vary a lot according to their country, their generation, their gender or their sexual activity?

After a scorching summer which raised the question of a more rational use of water in daily life, Ifop publishes an "Observatory of the hygiene of Europeans" which allows for the first time to compare body and clothing habits in vogue in France and its main neighbours. Conducted among 5,000 people in the five largest European countries (Spain, Italy, France, Germany, United Kingdom), this instructive survey paints a picture of post-Covid hygienic practices in which the French are far from appearing as the worst students.

The key numbers

  1. This study demolishes the clichés about the supposed dirtiness of the French by showing that the “worst students” in this area would rather be their transalpine neighbours… Indeed, only 53% of Italians wash completely every day, a proportion much lower than that observed in the United Kingdom (68%) but also in France (76%), Germany (77%) or Spain (82%).
  2. However, this survey does not call into question all the ideas received on the lack of cleanliness of the French insofar as the latter are at the back of the pack in terms of clothing hygiene. Today, it is indeed in France that the daily change of underwear is least widespread among men: 73% in France, against 82% in Spain, 77% in Germany, 77% in Italy and 75% United Kingdom.
  3. More exposed to the risk of infection (e.g. fungal infections, etc.), women are much more likely than men to change underwear every day. Indeed, the proportion of women who change panties daily is more massive (93% on average in the five countries studied) and relatively homogeneous with a rate oscillating between 92% (United Kingdom, Germany) and 97% (Spain).
  4. French women - and especially the youngest - stand out for their greater freedom from clothing standards through a much more marked rejection of the wearing of a bra: 13% of young people under 25 years do not wear a bra in France, against barely 3% in Spain, 2% in Italy and only 1% in the United Kingdom and Germany.
  5. Intimate hygiene turns out to be very correlated with the degree of sexual sociability if we judge by this survey which shows that the people most concerned about their hygiene are often those who have the most partners or sex. This is particularly clear in the daily practice of the shower which reaches its lowest rates among respondents who have not had any sexual intercourse in the last four weeks (48%).

The main findings of the survey

A) A CLICHÉ TESTED BY THE NUMBERS: ARE THE FRENCH THE DIRTIEST IN EUROPE?

1 / Only one out of two Italians wash themselves completely every day, which is clearly less than their Spanish, German or French neighbours, because they make widespread use of the bidet for the hygiene of their private parts.

While the whole world is still steeped in clichés about the supposed dirtiness of the French, this survey shows that the most "bad students" in this area would rather be their transalpine neighbors...

The study reveals that in 2022, barely more than one in two Italians will wash completely every day (53%), i.e. a proportion much lower than that observed in the general population. adult from the United Kingdom (68%) but also from France (76%), Germany (77%) or Spain (82%).

Highlighting a significantly higher frequency of body washing in France (76%) than the average of the European countries studied (71%), this study therefore undermines the stereotype of the “filthy Frenchman” born in Europe in the 17th century and diffused during the post-war period by American cultural productions having conveyed it all over the world via, among others, the smelly character of "Pépé le polecat" (Oscar winner by Hollywood in 1949).

The point of view of François Kraus: The low rate of "complete" daily washing observed in Italy is not necessarily symptomatic of poor hygiene. Indeed, it is undoubtedly due to a specific national hygienic culture marked , among others, by the