We were not able to obtain any information on the numbers of garments produced at home. There is therefore only a value estimate for the output of clothing (see Value).

The volume of washing is measured in washloads per year. The source of information for this estimate is the UK Laundry Market Report (Lever-Faberge, 1999/00), which reports the average number of loads per household per week. This is very similar to an estimate produced by the Association Internationale de la Savonnerie, de la Detergence et des Produits d' Entretien (AISE). This figure has been multiplied by the number of households in the UK, taken from the Family Expenditure Survey 2000/1. The volume of ironing is measured in kilos, and is a percentage of the total weight of washloads. The weight of an average load of washing comes from the National Association of the Laundry Industry (NALI). We have had to make an assumption about the percentage of the washloads that is ironed, because we have, so far, been unable to identify a source for this information.

For further details, see Chapter 5 of the HHSA Methodology (downloads). See Sensitivity Analysis for results using alternative assumptions about the percentage of clothes that are ironed.

See Value for prices and value estimates.