We all know of the “influencer” but many of us are yet to come across the “cleanfluencer.” These Instagram users are passionate cleaners and you guessed it, they record themselves cleaning stuff. That’s their schtick. The whole schtick.
You best believe it’s legit – cleanfluencers have thousands of followers. It appears many of us have a total fetish for watching others clean and learning from their ways, and they’re not just on the Gram. They have merchandise, have written books on cleaning, and most of them have a YouTube channel. Mrshinchhome has 2.8 million Insta followers, The Organised Mum is sitting on 173,000 and This Girl Can Organise is at 109,000.
Nine times out of 10 cleanfluencers seem to embody that “soccer mum” look. The question that came out of my deep dive into their world was: why on earth are we so obsessed with watching people clean? Surely there’s more to life than that.
Here’s what I’ve learnt…
This Girl Can Organise
When I hop onto Nicola Lewis’ cleanfluencer Instagram, her bio says “professional home organiser”. I’m intrigued, as I didn’t know that was an occupation. But the second thing I noticed was a post that said:
“the closest I get to a spa these days is the steam from the dishwasher door smacking me in the face #motherhood”
This Girl Can Organise.
This is the first red flag for me. I quickly learnt that many cleanfluencers tend to glamourise that “self-sacrificing” mum image and it seems a little toxic. But there are positives: one of This Girl’s tid-bits is to engage her followers in a “summer detox” challenge where they tackle decluttering things one thing at a time – the car boot, the “junk drawer” at home, the shoe cabinet. She’s also a level 12 on the likeable scale.
Sophie Hinchliffe
I hop onto Sophie Hinchliffe Instagram account, arguably the internet’s “biggest” cleanfluencer and immediately I’m baffled. How does this woman have 2.8 million followers? All of her pictures are grey and white, her account is straight-up depresso. So I investigate further… and that’s when I come across this:
The first video on her YouTube channel is a tutorial on deep cleaning and it’s quality viewing. Seriously. After watching this I feel the strong urge to invite her to the pub. At one stage she pours soda crystals in her sink plugs, sprinkles them with water and sings “look at the fizz…look at the fizz… easily pleased mate” in her thick British accent.
The Organised Mum
Much like the other cleanfluencers I’ve discovered, The Organised Mum has her own merchandise and has even coined her own cleaning method: The Organised Mum Method. It involves spreading house chores over the course of the week so that one can “enjoy” their weekend.
I’m beginning to notice that cleanfluencer accounts are all run by mums and it feels a bit off. None of these influencers seems to mention that it’s not a woman’s responsibility to do the bulk of the housework.
But what is inspiring about the cleanfluencer is that she seems to be a self-made, successful businesswoman, which honestly, is pretty badass. Cleanfluencers seem to encourage “downtime” and self-care practices too, and we can’t complain with that. But I’m left wondering: where are the male cleanfluencers at?