“Housework may seem like the ultimate romance-killer. But guess what?

“A new study shows that for husbands and wives alike, the more housework you do, the more often you are likely to have sex with your spouse.”

So begins an entertaining and illuminating piece by Sue Shellenbarger in Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal, titled “Housework Pays Off Between the Sheets.”

“Earlier studies have hinted at this connection for men; the sight of a husband mopping the floor or doing dishes sparks affection in the hearts of many wives. But the more-housework-equals-more-sex link for wives, documented in a study of 6,877 married couples published online recently in the Journal of Family Issues, is a surprise.

Scrubbing the floor is no aphrodisiac, and seeing your spouse doing it usually isn’t either. ‘My husband loves doing laundry, yet I don’t get any thrill out of his doing it,’ says Chicago writer Julie Danis. And ‘I don’t think he thinks it’s sexy when I go around gathering the detritus of his daily life.’”

Read the rest of the article here.