Eric Stonestreet Shares His Surprising Dating Dealbreaker

Eric Stonestreet has always been good about keeping his living space clean.

He also knows how to spot women who aren't quite as neat.

"Girls with messy cars were a red flag for me from the beginning," he told ABC News. "I remember in college when I got into a girl's car and she had cans and trash, I was like, 'This probably means something...'"

To that end, Stonestreet, 42, is now a spokesman for Swiffer, a product he said has made cleaning more fun. He also made a video with his mother to promote the project -- an unparalleled experience for the "Modern Family" star.

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"She was nervous and excited. She'd never worked with me before and she'd never done anything like that before," he said of his mom, who got the gig after appearing regularly in his Instagram posts. Plus, "She got to stay a couple of days with me and sit by the pool and relax."

The actor, whose family lives in Kansas, said that it was especially fun to spoil his mother, who for so long has rooted him on. In the wintertime, he tries to fly his parents out to visit him in L.A. as often as possible.

"I give them a first trip out, all the way out, and make sure they're comfortable and have everything they want," he said. "They brought me up well!"

That means teaching him to clean too -- a talent Stonestreet, who will begin shooting the next season of his ABC series next month, is proud of.

"I want people to walk in and not feel it's a crazy museum where you can't touch anything -- but I like order," he said. "I'm a little bit of a virgo in that way."