UK men enjoy cooking more than women, and over a third of Brits do at least one load of washing every day - according to a new survey.

The 'Simply Living' report on UK domestic habits, independently commissioned by appliance maker LG, reveals that consumers still find household chores time consuming and boring but there are some interesting conclusions for kitchen designers and retailers to take away.

Washing machines

Just over a third of respondents (36%) put on at least one load of washing a day, mainly those in their 30s and 40s with families. Almost a quarter admitted that they enjoyed doing the laundry, but 42% said they took too much time doing it.

As well as being time consuming, almost a third said their washing machine was too noisy and interrupted their precious leisure time. Apart from price, durability and energy efficiency were more or less equal in importance when considering a new washing machine.

Cooking

Three-quarters of Brits enjoy cooking, according to the report, but men enjoy it more than women who would rather pay someone else to do it. However women take more time to prepare a meal than men.

Despite this enjoyment, a third said they would cook more if it didn't take as long and 42% said they woudn't spend more than 30 minutes preparing and cooking a meal.

Most respondents (71%) admitted that the recession has had little effect on their cooking habits, although one in five said they were eating fewer takeaways.

Refrigeration

The report says that more than £90m of food is thrown away per week in the UK as people fail to store it correctly. Over two thirds admit that they have little or no system for storing food in their fridges and freezers. Most don't make use of vegetable and meat drawers.

The sample for the survey includes 1003 people aged between 20 and 80 from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Other findings to come out of the report include:

• Londoners are the least likely to cook every day compared to other regions. Almost every surveyed in the West Midlands (99%) will cook every day.
• 23% of those in their 20s wish they had more time to spend cooking.
• Scots are two times better at storing their food than the Welsh.
• Twice as much food is thrown away in London every week than the whole of Northern Ireland.
• 50% of people in their 30s do laundry every day compared to 25% in their 60s.
• 22% of those in their 20s admit they never do their own laundry.