Most of the public has never heard of ‘hygiene poverty’, leaving charities supplying disadvantaged families with washing products struggling to gain attention, a survey is suggesting.

The survey found that just 31% of UK adults had heard of “hygiene poverty” despite demand for products such as toothpaste and shower gel increasing amid the cost-of-living crisis.

Many disadvantaged families now face a choice between eating, heating their home and keeping clean amid the economic crisis, according to this latest survey, by In Kind Direct, the consumer goods donation charity.

It estimates nine million adults are living in hygiene poverty, triple last year’s figures, as the cost-of-living crisis worsens outcomes for disadvantaged families, who are struggling to access washing and period products.

Its survey, of more than 2,000 adults, has found that one in five people in hygiene poverty feel embarrassed to leave the house, while one in ten have made their own period products as they cannot afford to buy new ones.

“As the overwhelming effects of the cost-of-living crisis continues to impact people living on a low income across the UK. Many are facing the impossible choice between eating, heating and keeping clean,” it warned.

The survey has been revealed to highlight the increase in demand for support among a wide range of disadvantaged households, including those in work.

Of those surveyed who have gone without hygiene products, more than half (56%) are in work.

In Kind Direct has supported 12,300 charities over the last 25 years, distributing more than £317m worth of products from more than 1,200 companies, including Unilever, Procter and Gamble and Johnson & Johnson.

In Kind Direct interim chief executive Paul Buchanan said: “The cost-of-living crisis has had an incredibly detrimental effect on so many low-income families across the UK, forcing them to make impossible choices between eating, heating their home and keeping clean.

“We work tirelessly to get essential hygiene products to people who need them across the UK, and we are appealing for more support in our mission. Everyone deserves to wake up and feel clean, keeping clean is not a choice.’’

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