OK - To the wife: I 'get' it. I understand your side of this. For my home, I would be the same way because of what I know can come trapsing in from the steel-toed boots my husband wears for his line of work. He does uniform-delivery to farms, manufacturing plants, government-contracted companies, chemical plants, printing companies (that ink is nasty by the way) and even daycare facilities. I live in a demographic where when it rains, it is by the bucket load at times. Winter, let's face it - snow. So, yes, I can relate. I would want the brush/dustpan only for the floor.
However, instead of getting mad-hatter angry to the point you arent talking to each other like you mentioned now, you need to be better at communicating with your husband without the iron-fist. You have just basically treated him like a child with the way you have described the scenario.
OK - to the husband: You ALSO need to learn how to communicate better so you dont get mad-hatter angry to the point you arent talking to each other like this article mentions, without the iron-fist. Yes, with the way this article comes across, you are just as much at fault for the demise of communication as she is. However, you have to have some sort of reasonable level of 'seeing things from someone else's perspective' so long as they arent bringing on a verbal war, of course. Think about what your boots/shoes/sandals are bringing into the home, when inclement weather strikes and you are bringing the outdoor elements in with you? Unless you have resorted to taking off your footwear prior to entering, you are contributing to the mess that is brought in just as much as she is. How about loose hair? No one could possibly remove all of the loose hair that entwines in the bristles of that brush! THAT is probably what your wife is thinking but clearly she sucks at getting the words out.
How to solve the problem that THE WIFE/THE WRITER amplified:
Get him a dedicated countertop-only brush/dustpan. Label it as such.
So long as he is disinfecting the countertops afterwards, problem is done and gone.
You can talk to your husband without talking to him like a child. But, even more so, you dont have to cut him down for something he may have been doing BEFORE he met you or even from his childhood, THAT may have been something that was considered normal before you two got together. Like your husband, YOU TOO can learn how to have some sort of reasonable level of 'seeing things from someone else's perspective' so long as YOU dont bring on another war again.