How to stop your bedroom from giving your date the Ick

What is the ‘Ick’ and why is it ruining your bedroom potential?

In recent years, we’ve become very familiar with the word ‘ick’ – a term used to express horror, disgust, or repugnance – and it’s certainly something you don’t want to give your Valentine’s date.

Videos of people sharing what gives them the ‘ick’ are dominating TikTok, and Urban Dictionary even offers an example of how it’s having an adverse effect on people everywhere:

“You could be [flirting] with a guy or girl, everything seems to be going fine…you THINK you like them, but then you suddenly catch ‘The Ick’.

“From then on, you can’t look at the person in the same way; you just progressively get more and more turned off by them, weirdly & maybe for no reason in particular grossed out by them. You’ll cringe at the thought of you and them together. Nothing will be the same, you won’t be able to do it any longer and eventually have to cut it off.”

With that in mind, to help ensure the dreaded ‘ick’ doesn’t derail your love life, we at John Ryan By Design, a luxury handmade mattress maker, have surveyed 1,500 people in the UK to find out what bedrooms peeves most induce ‘the ick’.

And dirty bedding is the leading cause.

The Findings

When asked to vote for which bedroom peeve most gives them ‘the ick’, out of the 1,500 respondents, a whopping 7 in 10 (68.7%) voted for poor bed hygiene as the biggest ‘ick’, which included dirty and smelly bedding, mystery stains on bedsheets, or no bedding on the bed at all.

14% of respondents voted for a messy bedroom, giving it the second place position. This was defined as anything from clothes being on the floor, bed, or chair, right through to dirty dishes being left next to the bed. It seems a ‘floordrobe’ isn’t so sexy after all!

Unfinished decor came in third place with 5.2%, closely followed by poor furniture choices with 5.1%; and in fifth place is poor bedding choices, such as flat pillows or a thin quilt, having been selected by just 4.3% of respondents.

With just 2.7% of votes, the peeve that least gives people ‘the ick’ is memorabilia and collectibles, such as posters, figurines, dolls, and teddies.

Do Men and Women Have Different ‘Icks’?

Although both men and women felt poor bed hygiene was the biggest ‘ick’, women are more disgusted by it (72.9%) than men (63.3%).

Interestingly, though, 7.1% of men are turned off by poor furniture choices (like having a squeaky bed, or not having any soft furnishings etc.), compared to just 3.6% of women. I bet you didn’t see that one coming.

Men are also four times more turned off by memorabilia and collectibles, with 4.2% of them choosing this as opposed to only 1.4% of women. Looks like Sheldon and Leonard had the right idea all along!

What About Different Age Groups?

When it comes to looking at different age groups, 77.2% of those over the age of 54 were given ‘the ick’ by poor bed hygiene compared to 62.5% of 18-24-year-olds – a difference of 15%!

It also seems as though poor bedding choices are more likely to induce ‘the ick’ in 18-24-year-olds, with 5.8% choosing it; more than any other age group. 45-54-year-olds are the least likely to be turned off by bad bedding choices, as less than 1% opted this as their biggest ‘ick’.

Three Tips for Avoiding The ‘Ick’ in the bedroom

So, if you’re planning to pull in the bedroom, here’s what you need to do:

1. CHANGE YOUR BEDDING!!! It needs to be clean, fresh, and ready for action, not full of crumbs, stinky, and looking worse for wear. Use a stain remover too, just in case.
2. Tidy your bedroom. You don’t want to go through all the effort of wooing someone, just for them to come back to your place and be greeted with a messy bedroom that makes them want to vomit on the spot. Seriously, get rid of the floordrobe.
3. Make your room and bed more welcoming! If your budget allows, maybe consider finishing off some of those decorating tasks you’ve been putting off for the last six months, or replacing that broken lamp on your bedside table. The Valentine Gods and the person you pull will thank you.
4. Treat yourself (and your date) to a more inviting bed. Invest in a few extra pillows, a weightier quilt, and maybe even a throw as well. You want them to WANT to get in bed with you.
5. And finally, light some scented candles. Although this wasn’t included in the initial voting round, numerous respondents also stated that a smelly bedroom was a big turn off too. So, pick up a few scented candles in the January sales and make your room smell great instead.