Emmerdale, Weatherfield and Walford are officially filthy

The settings of Coronation Street, Emmerdale (right) and EastEnders are apparently some of the dirtiest places in the country a tongue-in-cheek report today suggests.

Cleaning experts from Vileda were dedicated watching the UK’s television soaps for two weeks, and have been left amazed to see that not one house, or pub, was cleaned in that time.

To ensure they weren’t missing anything they asked 2000 soap opera viewers to double check that their eyes weren’t deceving them. The results show that 50% said they couldn’t even remember the last time they had seen anyone clean in a soap.

“The soaps are supposed to reflect what is going on in the real world to some extent, but it’s hard to believe that no one in Coronation Street, Albert Square or Home Farm picked up a mop or a scourer in all that time,” says Vileda’s Lindsey Taylor.

“However, none of them even lifted a finger around their homes in a 14 day period, preferring to spend time in the pub.” Taylor adds.

Equally worrying, though, was that cleaning in The Rovers, The Queen Vic and The Woolpack was also conspicuous by its absence. Gone, it seems, are the days when Jack Duckworth was sent off into the toilets with his mop and bucket or Hilda Ogden (pictured right with window-cleaner hubby Stan) sung her way around the bar with a duster, while Chastity Dingle would be scared of breaking a nail and Ethel Skinner dusting the bar of the Queen Vic is a distant memory.

EastEnders has been crowned the cleanest soap whilst Emmerdale lags down at the bottom of the list in last place. It seems since Laurel Thompson gave up her cleaning services the village’s dust levels have increased… (Laurel with Steph Forsyth pictured above top in Emmerdale getting ready to do some dirty dusting with their cleaning company.)

Lindsey concluded: “EastEnders has taken the crown for cleaning whilst the residents of Emmerdale have let their homes get as filthy as the farm yards. It’s ironic that the soaps are so dirty. Perhaps it’s all to do with so much being brushed under the carpet.”

It was never like this in the 1970s, the top rating soap of the decade, Crossroads, set in a Birmingham motel was a hive of cleaning activity with Amy Turtle mopping and hoovering away, so much so comedian Larry Grayson fell over her bucket, Doris Luke dusted the restaurant while tuned to the latest gossip and Kath Brownlow washed the sheets and tablecloths in between another family crisis. Even motel owner Meg Richardson was known to pull on some rubber gloves and have a good darn scrub in the kitchen in between board room arguments.

It seems these modern day soaps are just far too dirty. (Above right, Meg gets her rubber gloves on to give Kings Oak Villager Lloyd Munro’s cooker a good going over in Crossroads.)

Is Vileda a mop and bucket short of a wet floor? We’re sure there are cleaners in soapland, post any recent dusting soapers below.