Old batteries and phone chargers dominate ‘drawer of stuff’
The average Brit’s ‘drawer of stuff’ contains six batteries, three phone chargers, five ‘unspecified’ cables – and four takeaway menus!
It’s also home to four mysterious keys with no known lock, six pens and pencils, and five instruction manuals.
Research of 2,000 adults found 55 per cent keep their ‘drawer of stuff’ in the kitchen, while a quarter have theirs in the front room. And despite 25 per cent frequently scrabbling through for some long-lost item, only 14 per cent always find what they need.
However, eight in 10 believe it is a vital part of the household.
Other items most commonly found in the odds-and-ends drawers include random screwdrivers, different types of tape, matches, old receipts and lint rollers. One in five Brits have even had so much overspill from their ‘main’ junk drawer they’ve had to press two others around the house into service.
And another 20 per cent have been told off due to the state of their beloved drawer of junk, according to the OnePoll figures.
But 52 per cent of respondents confess to finding a good old rummage through their drawer ‘therapeutic’. While 39 per cent confess to being quite territorial over the drawer and its contents.
The top reason for something to make its way into the hallowed bits and bobs drawer is simply because ‘it might come in handy someday’.
Says Richard Totis from Energizer, which commissioned the research:
“The much-loved bits and bobs drawer is clearly a much-used space.
“With its usual position in the kitchen – often referred to as the heart of the home – the ‘bits and bobs drawer’ is in a way the engine room of that heart.
“Most people put a huge premium on their drawer space in the kitchen, so having a whole drawer dedicated to old coins, batteries and leaflets is a lot of real estate to give up.”
TOP 30 ITEMS FOUND IN BRITS’ DRAWER OF STUFF
1. Pens/Pencils
2. Batteries
3. Sticky tape
4. Measuring tape
5. Scissors
6. Blu tack
7. Superglue
8. Paper clips
9. Screwdriver
10. Torch
11. Phone chargers
12. Unspecified wires and cables
13. Safety pins
14. Spare keys
15. Envelopes
16. Instruction manuals
17. Adaptors
18. Keys to locks you no longer use/have
19. Lighters
20. Takeaway menus
21. Matches
22. Cable ties
23. Coins
24. Receipts
25. Leaflets
26. Sunglasses
27. Padlocks
28. Hand sanitizer
29. Lint roller
30. Screen wipes
