Can you pass the in-law test?

Ladies, if your mother-in-law is taking time off in loo, beware.

For she may well be checking whether you are a suitable wife for her son.

Having a sneaky peek at the cleanliness of the toilet is a favourite way of assessing a daughter-in-law's marital qualities, a survey reveals.

More than eight in ten women judge their son's wife on her ability to run a clean house. And 84 per cent say that a sparkling lavatory bowl is most essential in keeping a hygienic home.

Such is the importance mothers-in-law put on the chore that almost half admitted making furtive trips to inspect the smallest room while visiting.

In some cases, over-zealous inlaws can end up being outlawed from their son's home because they are constantly criticising hygiene standards.

A thousand members of the Women's Institute were quizzed for the survey by S C Johnson, which makes cleaning products.

While two-thirds said the ability to bond with family members is the deciding factor in whether or not they warm to their daughter-in-law, more than 80 per cent say it is as important that she keeps a tidy house.

And with four in ten believing they can drop by unannounced whenever they want, there is always an opportunity for a quick inspection of the loo.

Janet Jones, 58, who took part in the survey, was banned from her son's house because of her frequent criticism.

The divorced nurse from South London said: 'When my son got married, I wanted to make sure he still had all the comforts he had when he was living with me.

'So I would pop round to his house and look around to see how clean it was. The first place to look is the toilet - because if that wasn't clean, then you could bet nothing was particularly clean.

'A couple of times I pointed out to my daughter-in-law that she could pay a bit more attention to household hygiene and eventually she got so annoyed she stopped me coming round for a few weeks.

'It was a real source of friction until I Iearned to bite my lip.' Dr Terri Apter, a social psychologist at Cambridge University, said it is important that mothers learn when to keep their opinions to themselves.

'The tragedy is that there is the possibility for great friendship between a mother and her son's wife, but this so often does not develop well because the daughter-in-law can object very strongly to any heavy-handed advice on how to run her house,' she added.

'It is very difficult for mothers-in-law to draw the line between caring for their sons and meddling.'