Anyone who has a dirty oven knows the best way to sort it is to go online and watch a TikTok of someone cleaning theirs. Then you watch another clip, and another, until the grimy grill pan is forgotten about.
As a nation we’re obsessed with cleanfluencer accounts. Between January and May, there were more than 163,000 cleaning content pieces uploaded on Instagram globally and 2,520,000,000 TikTok hits, according to analytics company WeArisma.
Meanwhile, the #cleanfluencers hashtags on TikTok has 6.6million views and @MrsHinchHome – one of the best-known of the online housekeepers – has 4.7 million Instagram followers; alongside a book, a product range and her own verb for cleaning; ‘to Hinch’.
However, for all the sparkling mirrors and shiny worktops, belies another story for many cleanfluencers.
Three years ago, Sophie Hinchcliffe, AKA Mrs Hinch, revealed how, fed up with her stomach being tied up in knots morning and night, she sought help from her GP for anxiety, and spoke out about how cleaning helped ease her mental health.
She’s not alone. Here, Metro.co.uk speaks to three other cleanfluencers about how sorting and ordering the home has helped them make sense of a troubled mind.
‘I used to clean my arms with bleach’
Author and This Morning expert Lynsey Crombie, known as Lynsey Queen of Clean, considers herself one of the earliest cleanfluencers. She fell into the role by accident after cleaning helped her process a traumatic past.
‘Cleaning and mental health go hand in hand. I found out my first husband was a paedophile 20 years ago when I was pregnant. He was arrested and I went into shock labour. Then I was suddenly left as a single parent with twins. I did counselling, CBT, all those things, but the only time I ever felt normal was when I was cleaning.
It became an obsession. I went completely over the top and used an excessive amount of products. I was going through about 14 bottles of bleach a week in a two-bed house. I would take the lid off and throw it on the floor.
I look back now and feel ashamed of how bad I was, but it was a response to the stress. The twins were born prematurely and I became a bit of a germaphobe; I was scared to put them on the floor. And I just wanted to scrub away the pain. The fact that I’d been married to a man like that… I used to clean my arms with bleach because he touched my skin.
When I had my son with my second husband in 2008, things calmed down. We moved to a nice house and the past disappeared. I got it under control.
I was on a TV show called Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners, and there was a scene on the show where I threw a whole bottle of bleach on the floor, then pine disinfectant, then a bottle of washing up liquid. I regret that now, as you need to use the right products and clean safely.
But you make mistakes in life, you learn from them and you become a better person. I still use cleaning today to make me feel better; if I have an argument with my husband, or get a nasty message online, the first thing I’ll do is get the mop or the Hoover out, and do some rage-cleaning.
I used to clean for eight hours a day, but I’m hardly at home these days. Now I will probably clean for an hour in the morning when we get up and I always clean before we go to bed. If I’m working from home I will quickly do the bathroom between calls.
We talk about going for a run to release that pent up negativity but doing the housework is another great form of exercise and it relieves stress. And you’re always left with a fantastic end result. ‘
‘My laundry room is my joy’
While most of us like to watch TV to unwind, Yohann Dieul – ‘Frenchy’, likes to watch his washing machine. He explains how cleaning helped him deal with childhood anxiety.
‘I always had a passion for cleaning and I’ve done it from a very young age because as a small boy I was very anxious about everything; school, parties, anything around people. I was so shy, I couldn’t mingle with anyone. It was very difficult.
I saw doctors who would try and diagnose me. They asked me to do drawings and they were all black. I felt embarrassed about everything; about saying things or doing things, and I felt like I was in a bubble on my own. I was trapped in anxiety. I was afraid of everything; I had a fear of dying, a fear of being ill, of not being able to communicate.
I remember going to some of my parents’ friends when I was about five and they had a little toy broom and dustpan. I took them everywhere. I discovered that cleaning made me think of something else. When I picked up that broom, I forgot everything.
I grew up in a small village near Cognac, and I would come home from school alone, age seven or eight, do my homework and clean until my parents got back from work. I just couldn’t wait to get on that vacuum cleaner or do some dusting. It helped me escape. I would put some music on, probably Madonna – it was the eighties – and I would clean. It took me to another world.
My parents would come home and say – “Oh, you’ve cleaned again.” But they would be happy because they saw me happy. And everything would be done. Cleaning set me free. My bedroom was spotless. Nothing was on the floor. Everything was dusted, everything was back in the cupboards. It was a safe space and it really helped me.
I was diagnosed with anxiety when I was ten, but thankfully, things changed for me when I went to high school and I managed to be more open and sociable with people.
But I carried on cleaning. At uni, everything in my room or my apartment was always spotless. Then I came to the UK 25 years ago to work as an au pair and I loved it. I worked internationally for a while, which involved a lot of travel and staying in hotels. I would take my wipes and disinfectant and bring things up to standard.
I now work as an administrator at a charity, so I don’t have loads of time for cleaning, but I do a bit every day, and maybe three or four hours at the weekend. In my home in Yorkshire, every single room is spotless; the bed is made, everything is tidy. All the cushions are where they should be, as are the knick-knacks. I own at least 15 vacuum cleaners, although I may have more if we include steam mops and carpet cleaners.
My laundry room is my joy and I spend quite a lot of time in there. I have two washing machines and one drier. Sometimes, I like to go in and just watch the clothes just going around. It is so calming and it smells amazing. It is like meditation for me. I don’t need yoga; I just need to watch my tumble dryer.’
‘When I was pregnant, I had a fetish for smelling dust’
Former glamour model and My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding star Danielle Mason, has now swapped the red carpets for a pair of rubber gloves. Danielle, who presents Good Housekeeping on shopping channel Ideal World and runs a cleaning business, says scrubbing the floors has helped her stay grounded during difficult times.
I have two kids – age 11 and 9 – and I think some of my love of cleaning stemmed from when I was pregnant. I had a fetish for smelling dust. I used to go and sit in my mum’s garage and smell the dust. I don’t know why. I also had a Saturday job at a Travelodge as a teenager and then I went on and off cleaning for different companies and set up my own business. So I have 20 years’ experience.
I used to be married to someone from the Traveller community; so that’s where a lot of my know-how came from. I was with him for eight years and all we used to do was clean, clean, clean. I picked up so many hacks. Cleaning is a big part of the culture. You wouldn’t want anyone coming round if your place was untidy or unclean, so as soon as you’re up and you’ve got the kids ready and washed you start cleaning. And then you clean all day.
We would clean the windows everyday – insides and out – so they would sparkle. Otherwise it’s an embarrassment. I did tidy and clean before but not to their standard. They opened my eyes to so much about cleanliness and cleaning products.
Some people are clueless about germs; cross contaminating like leaving a bathroom cloth in your kitchen sink; that’s filth. Washing your hands in your kitchen sink in the travel community is a no-no. You wash your hands in a separate sink outside. And shoes. They need to be taken off inside. People don’t realise how many germs the bottoms of your shoes carry through across your carpet where your kids lay their heads. All that stuff stuck with me.
But I also learned a lot from my mum. I’m now working with Haier, a big house keeping brand, but I also still have a couple of private jobs that I won’t give up. I just love walking into a messy property and cleaning it up; I get real satisfaction from it.
I have anxiety and I find cleaning really helps. I’ve had a really bad time in the past – things can be very up and down. My panic attacks have come back recently, so I’ve upped my medication, but the anxiety isn’t as bad as it used to be. I’m okay with it now.
Cleaning stops you overthinking. If you’re feeling down about something, and don’t feel like cleaning, you just push yourself to do it and it uses up all that het-up energy.
Even if I won the lottery tomorrow, I would never let another cleaner in my house. I would do it all myself. I’ve watched other cleaners and I don’t always agree with what they’re doing.
My cleaning superpower is doing the windows and leaving no smears. If I go round someone’s house and they have dirty windows, I just want to get the cloth out and clean it.
And if I see a bit of dust, I like to run my finger across it. I have been at a house party before and cleaned the windows and done the washing up. People tell me it’s rude, but I don’t mean anything by it. I just like the feeling. I really do enjoy it. I love cleaning.’
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