More than Half of Americans Feel it can be Difficult to find a Clean Restroom while on the Road

With Labor Day approaching, many people will hit the road for a weekend trip and will inevitably need to stop for a restroom break. A new poll commissioned by Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ: CTAS) found that more than half of Americans (56 percent) feel it can be difficult to find a clean restroom while on the road. The survey was conducted online by The Harris Poll, August 17-21, 2018, among 2,038 U.S. adults ages 18 and older.

“No one wants to use a public restroom that doesn’t meet their standards, and this research shows that many feel it is difficult to find a clean restroom while traveling and will refuse to use one that is dirty,” said Jillian Bauer, Marketing Manager, Cintas. “To create a welcoming space for guests and avoid customer complaints, businesses must regularly maintain their restrooms, ensuring surfaces are clean, messes are contained to receptacles and essentials are stocked at all times.”

The poll also found that cleanliness matters, especially to women:

• More than half (54 percent) of Americans have passed on using a public restroom because it was too dirty for them.
  • Women are more likely than men to avoid unkempt restrooms, with 60 percent saying they had passed on using a public restroom because it was too dirty, while only 49 percent of men have done so.
• More than two-thirds of Americans (69 percent) say cleanliness is a factor they consider when looking for a restroom while on the road.
  • Women are more likely than men to factor in cleanliness (72 percent vs. 66 percent)

Cintas’ free mobile restroom-finder app, Got to Go^®, allows users to find clean restrooms in their vicinity and rate them based on cleanliness. The app provides a map that differentiates restrooms according to color and ratings (green for top-rated, clean restrooms yellow for low-rated, dirty restrooms and blue for unrated restrooms).

When clicking on a restroom icon, users will also have the ability to view the restroom’s rating and rate the restroom themselves. Users can also get directions to the restroom and filter the results by location, such as gas and convenience stores; coffee shops and restaurants; retail stores; or government and public buildings.

Got to Go^® is available for complimentary download in the iPhone App Store or Android’s Google Play. For more information, visit https://www.cintas.com/gottogo.

About Cintas Corporation

Cintas Corporation helps more than one million businesses of all types and sizes get Ready^™ to open their doors with confidence every day by providing a wide range of products and services that enhance our customers’ image and help keep their facilities and employees clean, safe and looking their best. With products and services including uniforms, mats, mops, restroom supplies, first aid and safety products, fire extinguishers and testing, and safety and compliance training, Cintas helps customers get Ready for the Workday^®. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Cintas is a publicly held Fortune 500 company traded over the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol CTAS and is a component of both the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and Nasdaq-100 Index.

Survey Method

This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Cintas from August 17-21, 2018 among 2,038 U.S. adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact [e-mail].

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