Business & Tech

Dirty Bathrooms Could Make Your Profits Stink

A new survey from Bradley Corporation shows a stinky, dirty bathroom will lose you customers. It also looks like dirty bathrooms are on the rise.

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Every year, Menomonee Falls-based Bradley Corporation releases a unique survey about consumer thoughts and behaviors in the restroom. 

This year, dirty bathrooms were the primary topic of discussion. We've all probably stepped into biological disaster at some point in our lives, and the Bradley survey shows that a disgusting bathroom directly impacts a customer's perception of management and the business. 

Almost three-fourths of the 1,015 Americans surveyed said a bad restroom is a sure sign of poor management. Apparently there may be a lot of poorly managed businesses because 63 percent of respondents said they've had a nasty experience in the bathroom of a business. The 63 percent figure is up from 51 percent a year ago. 

Most of those people who had a bad experience in the bathroom, 63 percent, said they would think twice about patronizing that particular business again. According to the survey, these were the top complaints about the bathrooms: 

  1. Really bad smell, 82 percent 
  2. Toilets were clogged or not flushed, 79 percent 
  3. Overall dirty appearance, 73 percent 
“In our fifth year of doing this national survey, it remains clear that the cleanliness of the public restroom is very important to customers, employees and other stakeholders who engage with your business,” said Jon Dommisse, director of global marketing & strategic development for Bradley Corporation. “It pays off for businesses to provide clean, easy to use washroom facilities with touch-free 
fixtures to ensure the user has a good experience.”

Bradley has a unique perspective on this issue. They are a leading manufacturer of commercial wash fountains, and today is the industry's exclusive source for plumbing fixtures, washroom accessories, restroom partitions and emergency fixtures. 

Oh yeah, men still wash their hands less frequently than women. Usually, the focus of the survey is hand-washing habits. Roughly 74 percent of women wash their hands, while just 60 percent of men do. 

“Men need to get the memo that hand washing is important no matter what,” Dommisse said. “You just can’t argue with the research that says it is the number one way to prevent illness and stay healthy.”

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