Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

This is what happens when you initiate a housework strike

77 replies

stbrandonsboat · 16/04/2023 15:05

Me and young adult ds vacated the bathroom several months ago due to dh getting toothpaste everywhere when he was brushing his teeth. We got sick of the endless cleaning up so have started using the, previously unused, en suite. I clean it every week and all is well.

I told dh he was now solely responsible for the bathroom and that I wasn't cleaning it anymore as I do everywhere else and I never use the bathroom.

This was months and months ago. Dh briefly cleaned up for his sister visiting, but nothing since. He does sort of clean the toilet from time to time. The bathroom now stinks like a herd of Nubian goats are living in there. It's a build up of dirt smell rather than anything else. I'm still refusing to clean it, but I can't keep the door open as it affects the rest of the house.

Do I?

a) Ignore it

b) Clean it myself

c) Sprinkle the contents of the ash pan all over the place so he has to clean it.

d) Start keeping goats and chickens in there to justify the smell.

Dh himself and his clothing are always clean, it's just the bathroom that's awful. He's just being lazy.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
WelshNerd · 16/04/2023 15:07

My instinct says D for comedy value.

Eggseggseverywhere · 16/04/2023 15:10

Doubt the farmyard animals would want such a person in their abode tbh.

Somanycats · 16/04/2023 15:11

No suggestions but yes this always happens. The perpetrators don't clean because they honestly don't care/ don't even see it/ have different priorities etc The victim is slowly driven demented.

Luredbyapomegranate · 16/04/2023 15:11

I think D

But WTF is he doing in there to make it smell like that?! Excretions get flushed away so as a rule a neglected bathroom doesn’t stink the way a never cleaned bedroom would.

If you won’t go for full D tack up
some pictures of goats to make your point.

Original poster
stbrandonsboat · 16/04/2023 15:14

Luredbyapomegranate · 16/04/2023 15:11

I think D

But WTF is he doing in there to make it smell like that?! Excretions get flushed away so as a rule a neglected bathroom doesn’t stink the way a never cleaned bedroom would.

If you won’t go for full D tack up
some pictures of goats to make your point.

It's just a bacterial build up, no bathroom spray, dirty bathmat type smell 🤢

Maybe if I put straw down it might help 🤔

OP posts:
Tidsleytiddy · 16/04/2023 15:15

Sorry, I’d have to muck it all out. It’d break me I’m afraid

Namechange224422 · 16/04/2023 15:16

e) invite his sister to stay for the weekend

Original poster
stbrandonsboat · 16/04/2023 15:17

At least the goats are cute

This is what happens when you initiate a housework strike
OP posts:
Original poster
stbrandonsboat · 16/04/2023 15:18

Namechange224422 · 16/04/2023 15:16

e) invite his sister to stay for the weekend

That's not a bad idea actually 🤔

OP posts:
GagaBinks · 16/04/2023 15:22

Ignore, ignore, ignore! Otherwise he's won!

Namechange224422 · 16/04/2023 15:24

stbrandonsboat · 16/04/2023 15:18

That's not a bad idea actually 🤔

Show quote history

Let us know if it works!

Those goats are very cute….

Original poster
stbrandonsboat · 16/04/2023 15:27

Look at it! My poor bathroom that I decorated and made nice just the year before last 😢

This is what happens when you initiate a housework strike
This is what happens when you initiate a housework strike
This is what happens when you initiate a housework strike
OP posts:
Original poster
stbrandonsboat · 16/04/2023 15:29

No bag in the bathroom bin either 🫣

I think I need the ash pan attack method 😡

OP posts:
Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 16/04/2023 15:29

Vote for goats! But suspect that Dh may still have won as you probably would need an entire new bathroom/walls/floor. Goats will absolutely trash the room!!!

have you considered locking him out of the bathroom and installing a porta loo and outdoor shower thingy instead? Then you and dc can have a bathroom each……

Original poster
stbrandonsboat · 16/04/2023 15:31

I can't lock him out of the bathroom cos he'll just go into the en suite which, for now, is safe.

He needs a fricken hose out in the back garden!

Why do they do this?

I even bought him cleaning products!

This is what happens when you initiate a housework strike
OP posts:
TheMarsian · 16/04/2023 15:34

I vote for option E too.

Invite his sister and maybe friends, other family members….
At the very least, it will force him to do some cleaning….

id mention the smell though and how the door has to be shut at all time…

CombatBarbie · 16/04/2023 15:34

stbrandonsboat · 16/04/2023 15:27

Look at it! My poor bathroom that I decorated and made nice just the year before last 😢

That is disgusting..... How does he not see that?? What's he like with other areas of housework?

Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 16/04/2023 15:37

Locks on both bathrooms! Mwah ha ha!

hosepipes are cheap from b and m. I think you can even get outside hot water taps now!

elm26 · 16/04/2023 15:39

Definitely D! Love your sense of humour because this would make me lose my shit (no pun intended).

I'm quite lucky that DH is super clean, not so much tidy and he hates cleaning the toilet, makes him gag although there is only me and him here and I would never leave poo stains etc down there so it's always somewhat "clean" but we have an agreement that I clean the toilet and he will literally do anything else.

I've come back from a week away before and the place has been spotless.

You've got more patience than me.

Original poster
stbrandonsboat · 16/04/2023 15:43

CombatBarbie · 16/04/2023 15:34

That is disgusting..... How does he not see that?? What's he like with other areas of housework?

Show quote history

About once a year he'll help me spring clean the lounge and every now and again he'll tidy and dust his side of the bedroom, but I do everywhere else.

OP posts:
Original poster
stbrandonsboat · 16/04/2023 15:44

I've just noticed that he hasn't even unwrapped the brand new toilet brush that he insisted he bought weeks ago.

OP posts:
RightOnTheEdge · 16/04/2023 15:46

I wish I hadn't looked at that tap photo just as I put some food in my mouth 🤢

Do you have to do all the cleaning around the rest of the house?

I'd tell him his sister is coming for a surprise visit this week.
I want to say get the goats but I don't think they deserve to share a space with such a minger.

thefactsarefriendly · 16/04/2023 15:46

Leave him. He's completely ignoring your needs, not pulling his weight, and treating the family home with contempt.

I don't get the light-heartedness of the replies.

EmmaEmerald · 16/04/2023 15:48

Whose is the en suite? It seems very unfair to have to use a room off someone's bed room because a grown man can't keep a bathroom clean.

Original poster
stbrandonsboat · 16/04/2023 15:49

EmmaEmerald · 16/04/2023 15:48

Whose is the en suite? It seems very unfair to have to use a room off someone's bed room because a grown man can't keep a bathroom clean.

It's the master bedroom en suite which me and dh share, but he's banned from the en suite due to his bathroom behaviour. None of the other bedrooms have an en suite and it's a very small house.

OP posts: