8 Secrets Why Women Love to Clean

It Gives You a Sense of Accomplishment

With cleaning, we “get to have an end product. In many tasks you don’t get an end product that’s so observable,” says Dr. Fugen Neziroglu, Ph.D., director of the Bio Behavioral Institute in Great Neck, New York and author of Overcoming Compulsive Hoarding. For many of our readers and Michelle Jesperson, 37, a program manager for the State of California in Walnut Creek, the joy of cleaning comes from that tangible result. “My satisfaction is mostly gleaned from having a clean home with things organized and put away,” says Jesperson.

Achieving that can have spillover effects into other areas of our lives as well, says Marla Deibler, Psy.D. director of the Center for Emotional Health of Greater Philadelphia. “When we set out to accomplish a goal like cleaning the fridge, we gain confidence that we can succeed,” which helps us tackle projects in other areas of our lives. It’s one of the reasons Julia Stone, 36, a CPA and mom to two in Denver Colorado makes cleaning a priority in her home. “If I can even get something silly organized like a junk drawer, it feels like I accomplished something. I feel ready to take on other challenges.”