UK adults put off buying nice household items by pets and children, poll reveals

‘Unfortunate and potentially costly incidents are happening across the UK, putting families off buying the quality furniture they really want’

Many adults fear their children and pets will ruin furnishings (Getty Images)

Almost half of adults who have children or pets are put off buying nice items for the house over fears they will be ruined – by food, drink and animal dribble.  

A poll of 2,000 UK parents and pet owners revealed two thirds currently have a sofa which has been stained by a child or an animal.

The most common stains were caused by food, with several having marks on their sofa from eating.

This is followed by pen marks, non-alcoholic drinks, grease from hands and wine.

Many pets are the bad books too with a few respondents admitting their sofa is covered in animal dribble.

The average household has caused £117.93 of damage to furniture over the past 12 months - more than £2.3 billion across the UK, according to a poll by Furniture Village.

Meanwhile a few said they paid a professional to clean their stained sofa in 2020 - costing a further £320 million across the country.

As a result, 45 per cent admitted to being nervous about buying anything nice in case animals or little ones stain or break it.

The majority said they are waiting until their children grow so they can invest in good quality items.

Furniture Village carried out the poll to celebrate the launch of its new LivingProof range of stain resistant sofas.

Mark Reynolds, retail buyer at Furniture Village said: “Watching helplessly as a dog with muddy paws or a cheeky child leaves a stain on the sofa can be a painful sight.

“And us clumsy adults can’t avoid the blame either, with four in 10 grown-ups also responsible for accidentally marking the sofa.

“Unfortunate and potentially costly incidents are happening across the UK, putting families off buying the quality furniture they really want.”

The poll also revealed that just 56 days after delivery, a valuable piece of furniture will get its first serious mark.

Parents admitted they must always stay on guard, with some saying they’ve turned away for a moment to find their child had managed to leave a stain.

Due to this, 70 per cent of adults think companies need to make products which are more child and animal-proof.

Some said their sofa currently needs to be professionally cleaned, while others have made a mark on the sofa worse by trying to fix it themselves.

More than a fifth have even had to replace a piece of furniture because the stain was so bad it couldn’t be cleaned.

Others polled, via OnePoll, said they have spilt more on their sofa since the start of the pandemic, blaming the increased use.

SWNS