Men are now doing more cleaning than they were five years ago, according to a new survey.

The percentage of men who say they do most of the household cleaning has risen from 17% in 2006 to 31% in 2011, according to the study published by market analysts, Mintel.

Alexandra Smith, managing editor of Mintel Inspire, said: "The next generation of men are coming of age in an era when gender roles are less rigidly defined and men are set to become only more domestic.

"The assumption of men relying upon partners to shop - or even having partners in the first place - is in need of revision. Brands that have long assumed their target audience to be women may need to take a second look at who’s pushing the grocery cart."

The survey also showed that 55% of men who do household cleaning gain a sense of accomplishment from it, compared to 62% of women, with 26% describing it as a "thankless chore".

David Lockwood, senior analyst at Mintel, said: "Retailers either haven’t tried, or haven’t figured out how to communicate with men, who like to clean as much as women do.

"These facts reveal that men remain an underexploited household cleaning target and the barriers to men’s increased involvement in household cleaning are not great."

So men (me too!), no more excuses. The barriers are not great - we can overcome them. Indeed we must! For we are men!

Personally, I’m with the 55%, getting as much manly satisfaction from washing the pots or cleaning the toilet as my Cro-Magnon ancestors got from a good day’s cave decorating.

Furthermore, a survey of myself by myself reveals that I get 100% satisfaction from knowing that all BigGreenSmile’s cleaning products are eco-friendly and non-toxic.

[Image: Kheel Center, Cornell University]