My man’s a cleaning obsessive – he vacuums the dog and even scrubbed the loo in his suit on wedding night
WHEN it comes to cleaning, the man of the house is rarely the one who does the lion’s share.
But more and more blokes are brandishing a duster and a bottle of Mr Muscle – to the delight of their other halves.
The change is most noticeable once men turn 35.
A recent study by housework think tank the Home Renaissance Foundation found men’s views on housework and a tidy home become more positive once they hit midlife, while women become less fussy.
Today three women tell Alex Lloyd why they love being married to clean freaks.
'Hubby’s so clean he even vacuums the dog'
MANDIRA Moitra-Sarkar’s husband Samin is so keen on clean, he keeps a vacuum in each of their cars.
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She says: “You are not allowed to eat, drink or even breathe in the car, and shoes must be cleaned off before getting in.
“We’ve been married for 30 years so I’m used to it, but some days I want to kill him.”
Mandira and Samin, 58, have a daughter, Mahera, 21.
Mandira says: “I joke that it is a control thing, because he can’t control the women in his life.
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"I don’t bother to load the dishwasher as no matter how I do it, it is not suitable. I stick to the cooking instead.
“We have a dog but you would never know it, looking at our house. He has a cleaner for him too.
“Samin vacuums four times a week and we have a robotic cleaner that vacuums at night as well.
"He has a software business and travels a lot with work — and that is probably a blessing for both of us.
“It means I can leave a couple of things in the sink. I don’t mind cleaning but I can’t do it to Samin’s standards.”
Mandira, 52, from Guildford, Surrey, who runs food business Mandira’s Kitchen, believes her husband’s dedication to keeping things spick and span stems from losing his mother aged 12.
She says: “His father travelled a lot with work and I think he realised early on that he had to take care of himself,”
But Mandira says she wouldn’t change her man, and adds: “He comes to bed smelling of bathroom cleaner and was even scrubbing the loo in his suit on the night of our wedding.
“But somehow it works, and he doesn’t mind me teasing him about it. Nor does he nag me.
“In fact, I quite like it, even if I would never tell him that.”
Samin says: “I don’t know where my need to clean comes from, but Mandira married me, so it can’t be too bad.
“I definitely relate a bit to Jack Nicholson’s character in the film As Good As It Gets — I also like things just so.”
‘His man cave has a washing machine’
AS university flatmates, Hollie Bond knew Reid Whaley was a man who liked things in their place — completely opposite to her attitude to tidiness.
She says: “We lived with another girl and one day we crept into his room.
“We thought it was hilarious that his boxers were arranged by colour and everything was so neat.
“He later told me he was the only one who cleaned the bathroom all year and when he went on strike for a time, neither of us girls noticed.”
When they became a couple in 2010, freelance journalist Hollie, 36, tried to raise her tidiness standards.
But Reid, 35, an insurance broker, still nicknames her Hurricane Hollie.
The couple live in Barley, Herts, with their kids, Rowan, five, and Margot, two.
Hollie says: “My parents are extremely neat and my mum would get me and my sister to vacuum and polish after dinner at night.
“I think part of my aversion to cleaning is rebellion and part is just my nature.
"I seem to create mayhem in every room.
"But Reid can’t go to sleep unless he has tidied the playroom, even though it is behind a closed door.
“We do argue about my stuff, especially when it stacks up on a chair in our bedroom throughout the week.
“Our cellar is Reid’s man cave, except that instead of having golf clubs and tools down there, he has a washing machine and tumble drier.
“When most mums go out for the day alone, they come back to chaos. I return to a sparkling house and he’s even had Rowan helping mop floors.
“I know some blokes think men cleaning is emasculating but in my eyes it makes him more manly.
“He’s looking after our family and our house — a real modern man.”
Reid says: “I wouldn’t say I have a need to have a clean and tidy home,
I just can’t really concentrate or relax when it is dirty or messy.
“I don’t actually enjoy it — I just like the end result.
“While Hollie might not be tidy, it never really bothers me as she does all of the important things like keeping the kids fed and clothed, and she is super-organised paying the bills.”
‘I love he gets excited by buying a mop’
WHEN Dikla Craig-Blum told husband Jeff she was being discharged from hospital with their newborn son Eden, his reaction was unusual — but not surprising to her.
Dikla, 39, says: “I was in for five days after a C-section and desperate to get out.
“But he was flustered and told me, ‘You can’t come home yet, I need to clean the house!’.
"I couldn’t imagine how it could be dirty as it was lockdown in January 2021 and he wasn’t allowed visitors.”
A marketing technology manager, living in Mill Hill, North London, Dikla admits she is messy by nature.
“It is not my strong point and if you ask my parents, they will say, ‘Thank God you married Jeff’,” she says.
“I’ve tried to get neater, as I know that it bothers him.
“I read chat-room discussions of other mums who are frustrated that their husbands don’t help with housework.
“I’m relieved not to have that problem. I’m sure a few of my friends are jealous.
"I like that he takes pride in our home. It is endearing. It’s especially nice when he gets excited about buying a new mop.”
When they started dating in 2017, Jeff, 39, an accountant, would even tidy up Dikla’s bedroom in the shared house where she lived.
She says: “I told him my time is too precious to clean and I wanted a cleaner. But he refused because he loves to do it himself.
“He loves cleaning dishes and if he sees a speck of dirt on one, he will wash it again.
"It’s the same with the floor — and we have a dog and a toddler.
“Heaven forbid that I forget to use a coaster.”
Dikla, pictured just before giving birth to the couple’s second child, Bella, says Jeff has had to relax his standards as their family has grown.
"If it was up to him, he would pick up every toy immediately,” she says.
“I have to keep reminding him you can’t fight it with a toddler and it’s better to just wait until after he’s gone to bed.”
Jeff says: “Dikla is lucky to have me! I tried to instil my beliefs in her but this is very much my role in the relationship.
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“I find cleaning therapeutic and once it is done, I enjoy it. I seem to be hard-wired this way, like my dad.
"The women in my family are different.”