The Dutch have historically been regarded as extremely clean. Dr. Science at Obsidian Wings has a theory as to why:
One thing that has been IMHO overlooked is that this level of cleaning is a way for women to compete with each other. It's a form of conspicuous consumption: it takes a lot of resources (servants, especially), which means money, and it *is* conspicuous: Dutch women were especially scrupulous to clean their front steps and hallway, so that passers-by could see at a glance who was ahead in the housewife competition. Preachers said that cleanliness was aligned with godliness, so women could say that they were merely working to be as godly as possible — but I don't think there was much of humility in it. They were practicing Extreme Cleaning, and because so much of it was publicly visible they could rank each other's performance to an exacting degree.
The Dish 