Since washing machines are operated on consumer demand, their consumption of water, energy and detergents for a washing cycle is determined mainly by consumer-driven factors, such as frequency of washing, loading behaviour, selection of washing temperature/programme and dosing of detergents. Little is known about these practices on European level. A large semirepresentative consumer survey in 12 European countries asking more than 5000 consumers has shed some light on this behaviour. The results are documented on 220 pages in 219 figures and 33 tables.