Do Bachelors Clean?

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saltedplug

Lifer
Aug 20, 2013
5,194
5,097
In a manner of speaking they do. But theirs is a more fluid definition than any woman would abide as in the patriarchy they were assigned the duty, and they take the responsibility seriously. Men by themselves however are free to follow their own definition, which I would categorize as:
1. not cleaning

2. sometimes cleaning

3. cleaning
For this post we can ignore number 3, as within it are the aberrant who follow not the spirit of their true male calling. Number 1 can also be dismissed as on occasion, with sufficient inducement, any man will clean something, sometimes. I confess that I am a number 2 as it is well within my power to notice that something has gotten so dirty that it looks downright mean, but not clean it for a long period of time, months, really, but usually not years. (But in this I exempt vacuuming as I haven't done so in years; saves on vacuum cleaners, too.) In so doing I am following the common male convention, that is, I don't clean; and you can't make me. I amend this only by saying that when the sound of 1000s of roaches at a gallop wake me from sleep, or the place becomes rat-infested and the board of health is exerting heat, then of course I will clean.
How many kindred bachelors, real number 2s, recognize themselves in this description?

 

workman

Lifer
Jan 5, 2018
2,793
4,219
The Faroe Islands
When I was a bachelor, definitely! My kitchen sink was the final resting place of any used kitchenware. The vacuum cleaner spent its days in idle indifference. I did not care the least. The only cleaning I did regularly was washing clothes and myself.

 
I had a very creative family when growing up, but nevertheless my father instilled a very militaristic sense of cleanliness and order. In college, I tried to have roommates, but they were always too messy for me, so living alone was the best route. Even female roommates were too messy for me.
I can handle clutter for brief periods but never dirtiness. And, I cannot even start to think of metalworking, painting, or anything creative, till everything is in order in the house. As bachelor, I kept a tidy, yet minimal household. Then in all of my marriages, I have been the main organizer of keeping the house clean. I can delegate the jobs out to all of my kids and wife and keep everything ship shape. Four times a year, I have all of my older kids return to help us do a thorough deep clean, and they all seem to have fun doing it. And, I will fix a big meal for everyone and buy beer for my older kids. Younger kids get homemade icecream, as I prefer it, myself, over beer anyway.
Funny though... in my house, I will organize all cleaning, but if I take my shoes off in the livingroom for ten minutes, my wife squawks. And, I have to remind her at that moment that she needs to go clean her toilet, ha ha.
But all in all, I have found that if you clean along the way, it doesn't take much extra time to keep everything clean and tidy. :puffy:

 

voorhees

Lifer
May 30, 2012
3,834
937
Gonadistan
I certainly do. I have not cooked much since my wife passed, but the house stays in order. Momentarily I have extra furniture scattered in spare bedrooms which drives me nuts until it’s gone. But no dirty dishes, I do laundry but hate folding it. My living room is in order and bedroom. Spare bath is always ready for guests.

 

jaytex1969

Lifer
Jun 6, 2017
9,517
50,591
Here
Disorganization may be tolerated but not lack of sanitation.
jay-roger.jpg


 
May 9, 2018
1,687
86
Raleigh, NC
I clean, but typically it will jump start me into motion when I move something or take something from a shelf/table and identify a noticeable "absence" of grime beneath where said object had previously been located.
It's amazing how you never notice just how dusty crap gets that sits around your house when you don't use those things for very long periods of time.
I remember several years ago, I moved a glass candy dish that used to belong to my grandmother. I noticed the "ring" on the shelf that really didn't look all that bad to my eye before, but now I'm immersed in a deep cleaning to make myself feel better. I mean seriously, at times the dust bunnies grow so large that you could make a jacket, or at least a sock.

 

seldom

Lifer
Mar 11, 2018
1,035
940
When I was a bachelor I spent years on end (more than a decade, nearly 2 decades in fact) going from field job to field job, often living in a tent or out of my pickup, seldom renting an actual house for longer than a few months. It's a fairly easy task to keep a tent orderly and maintaining the back of a pickup as living quarters requires just a bit of cleaning. This sort of life keeps possessions to a minimum. During field work in Alaska I would sometimes be far out in the bush for months on end without running water and other luxuries.
Now I'm married and become less and less feral by the day.

 

pappymac

Lifer
Feb 26, 2015
3,273
4,269
21 years in the military taught me to be self-sufficient and that included cleaning up after myself, cooking, doing laundry and taking a daily shower. None of those things made me or anyone else I knew in the military less than manly or not adhering to my manly calling. My father - may he rest-in-peace - worked his way up in life from being a cook's assistance at a lumber camp, through the Civilian Conservation Corp, to being a licensed Captain on a towboat, also knew how to clean. He also made sure that everyone on his boat cleaned up after themselves.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
To put it mildly, I am not a neat-nik, and my late wife was quite a pack rat and deeply involved with her teaching, so not much of a housekeeping person, and my second wife grew up on a farm where everything was saved forever in case it was needed for re-purposing and repairs. In my approx. ten years as a widower, I made efforts to do housework. I've always washed dishes. Sweeping and straightening aren't beyond my ken. But we are not good at this, alas. My wife has always been impressed with my Navy clothing folding skills, necessary because your entire wardrobe-in-use has to be packed in a locker smaller than the one you had at school.

 

nitemair13

Starting to Get Obsessed
May 24, 2018
267
1
North Carolina
Pipes are clean, firearms are clean, clothes are clean, car is clean, house is kinda clean. I tend to clutter up my desk and night table with journals, notepads, books, ect. I use to try and get things more organized only to turn around in an hour and find I had somehow pulled the same stuff out again for one reason or another.

 

jruthledge

Might Stick Around
Feb 17, 2015
98
3
My girlfriend wanted me to get a vacuum. She was surprised to find that I already had one.

 
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