Housewife heave-hos housework-happy hubby

A German woman has divorced her husband, citing his incessant need to clean the house at all hours, the Austrian Times reports.

"He spent his whole time doing housework when he wasn't at work. It went on for 15 years and I had just had enough," said Lea Moeller, who lives in the town of Sondershausen, between Stuttgart and Nuremberg, about her husband, who loves to vacuum, iron, and do the dishes. When she returned from a vacation and found the entire home repainted and replastered, she decided she'd had enough.

According to a pair of 2008 studies, one from the University of Wisconsin, the other from the Soap and Detergent Association, American women still handle most home-cleaning chores.—Gian Trotta | e-mail | Twitter

Essential Information: Please your better half with these tips for effective house cleaning. Spare your bottom line with these recipes for low-cost homemade cleaners.