How to Get Men to Clean House--
And What Women Can Learn From It
Getting a man to do housework is not always easy. My opinion is that if both people work full-time jobs, both should divide household chores evenly because, after all, a house doesn’t have a woman’s face painted on it. That means, a home and the work that goes with it, should be a shared experience. Unfortunately, housework is rarely divided fairly.
It’s changing though. After circling the globe, and meeting men from around the world, I do believe that American men are the best men on the planet. Yep, in my opinion, American guys are the big Kahunas, the No. 1 of the male species on the globe. That being said, many don’t pull their fair share of the housework load.
Sure, they’ll insist that they take care of the yard, but not every single day. Housework is an everyday affair. From laundry to meal preparation and clean-up, housework is there, day in and day out.
So what does it take to get a man to pitch in and help with the housework? Make housework appealing to a man. If women put cleaning the house on manly terms, women are more likely to get their hubbies excited about cleaning. Heck, put housework on a man’s terms and women might find housework is more appealing to them, too.
It’s all about the tools
Men love tools. They want cleaning tools that work well. Women will tolerate inferior performance and almost take pleasure in how long they can endure working with something that gives them substandard results. Give a man the right tools to clean with and he’ll be excited to clean.
Hand a man an old string mop and you’ll get a pitiful look. Give that same guy a microfiber mop that pulls up fistfuls of his golden retriever, Rusty’s, hair, and you’ll have a guy that’ll be happy to routinely push a mop over your wood floors. Why? He gets payback in filth for his efforts. If you don’t believe me, just look at the popularity of the TV show Dirty Jobs. The grime is the appeal.
When you’re ready to clean and dust, work like a man and use a tool belt. Put the cleaning and dusting spray in one pocket and dust and cleaning cloths in another. Put a plastic putty knife in one pocket to scrape up any soap scum or food particles stuck to the floor before mopping. I wear one while cleaning and it keeps me organized and not searching for the last place I set the dust spray down.
Visual gratification
It’s also no secret that men are visually-oriented. That’s why the Dyson vacuum could only have been invented by a man. No doubt, as James Dyson says, he was frustrated because his vacuum lost suction. But I bet what he was really thinking was, “Where’s the dirt? I want to see some dirt!”
Thus, the Dyson vacuum was invented, enabling one to actually see the dirt and filth vacuumed up. My husband can’t get enough of our Dyson and says it’s the best investment we’ve made for the house in a long time. We fight over who gets to do the indoor mowing now.
Lessons Learned
What have we learned about housekeeping from men? It takes the right tools. Invest in good ones and using good tools makes the job better and maintains your interest in doing the job to begin with. We also learned that it pays to look at dirt. Having the tools that are going to have you seeing dirty, and plenty of it, will keep you interested in chasing down dust bunnies -- and it may even encourage your man to help you.
Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Real Home E-Zine, the Internet newsletter with real home advice, tips, and ideas for cooking, gardening, cleaning, and decorating for real families. Subscribers receive this FREE report, The 10 Habits that Help You Keep Your House Cleaner. For more information log on to www.kathryn-weber.com.
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