Ten hotly-contested household debates have finally been settled, including perennial favourites which way toilet roll should hang and where ketchup should be stored.

A poll of nearly 2,300 adults living with partners and in long-term relationships was carried out to get an insight into the disagreements people have on small but contentious issues at home.

Respondents were initially asked ‘Do you like to do/have things a certain way at home, but find that your partner thinks differently?’, to which more than two thirds of respondents (68 per cent) said ‘yes’.

When asked what they were most likely to disagree on, ‘where things should be stored’ (33 per cent), ‘how to use certain things’ (30 per cent) and ‘how quickly things should be done’ (16 per cent) were the most common answers.

A list of products was given to respondents who were told to select how they should be stored or used.

The most common – and therefore ‘correct’ – responses to the burning questions were then collated:

  • Toilet roll, hanging to the front – 78 per cent agreed this was correct
  • Ketchup, in the fridge – 77 per cent
  • Blinds, tilted upwards internally – 69 per cent
  • Pillows, partly under the duvet – 65 per cent
  • Potatoes, in the kitchen cupboard – 61 per cent
  • Mayonnaise, in the fridge – 60 per cent
  • Eggs, in the kitchen cupboard – 54 per cent
  • Door mat, outside the front door – 54 per cent
  • Bread, in a bread bin – 53 per cent
  • Toothbrush, on the sink – 51 per cent

Four out of five people polled by home interiors specialist www.hillarys.co.uk said they don’t know why these things have to be done a certain way, or kept in certain places, it’s just something they’ve picked up from their parents while growing up.

The others claimed to done research and found this to be the correct way to do things.

There is obviously some passive-aggressiveness out there, with 61 per cent of people admitting to switching things back when they found their partner had done the opposite to what they felt was the right way.

Those who said they bicker most about how quickly things should be done were most often quarrelling over making the bed (21 per cent) and doing the washing-up (16 per cent).