I’ve got a confession: the Instagram cleaning craze makes my skin crawl. It makes me want to lock myself in a darkened room and weep bitter tears for the environment, feminism and common sense.
Not got a clue what I’m talking about? Let me explain. The insta-cleaning community is a big deal on Instagram. Millions compete to see who can be the tidiest. No sticky fingerprint, trail of crumbs or patch of dust is safe from these super obsessive cleaners.
It’s pretty normal to want a tidy home. I spend a good part of each day keeping our family home on the straight and narrow – it’s a necessary and rather boring chore. I do it, grudgingly – usually silently seething that 21st century women are still picking up the lion’s share of domestic duties.
But this isn’t normal cleaning. This is obsessive, weird cleaning. The kind of cleaning that encourages stockpiling products and applauds you for pouring an entire bottle of pine cleaner down your loo every day.
It’s good for my mental health, say many. Any criticism is quickly shot down and neutralised with this argument. Hitching obsessive cleaning to the mental health wagon really, really bothers me. I totally get the the therapeutic benefits of having a good clean in a time of crisis, or to help you feel on top of things. But this is different. Many of these accounts are filled with endless, never ending routines: wiping down surfaces with disinfectant multiple times a day and ‘putting your sink’ to bed with a good clean before you’re allowed to finally get some rest.
The really dark side of all this cleaning though is that it’s bad for the environment and it’s bad for our health. Last year a study by the University of Bergen suggested that over-using cleaning sprays has a significant impact on your lungs, comparable with smoking 20 cigarettes a day. And women were found to be particularly badly affected, because they’re the ones doing most of the cleaning. And let’s just pause to consider the environmental impact of all those nasty and unnecessary chemicals being poured down our drains, plus the sheer amount of plastic that goes with them. It’s not just barmy, it’s pretty damn scary.
Obsessive over-cleaning isn’t aspirational. It’s dangerous and unhealthy. There, I’ve said it. Now I’m off to do something infinitely more interesting than clean my house.
Thankyou Lizzie!! You have said exactly what I’ve been thinking for a while now. Don’t get me wrong – I try and keep my house clean and tidy – but I’ve got two teenagers and work full-time and a busy partner and whilst we all do our best to keep things vaguely organised, to be quite honest, there are better things to do when it comes down to it and when you have to prioritise time. I used to follow these Instagram accounts that kept telling me you can do it all – work full-time, raise a family etc etc and have a sparkling clean insta-ready house. But that’s just not me and I think so many of us feel the same. Not to mention the old fashioned message it sends out to our sons and daughters that it’s ok for mum to spend her life cleaning and making everything just-so. I’m sure that some people do find it makes them feel good to be always on top of the cleaning – but it’s just not for me!
Hi Lizzie, I agree cleaning has to be done but not every day for hours. I have one good clean a week top to bottom and then tidy up for an hour each day. I can’t let cleaning become my life as I have daughters and there is so much more to life I’d rather cook healthy meals. I think the dust will still be there tomorrow but an art exhibition may not be. My Nan used to say the house will outlive you don’t make it your whole life when I bought my first house and became a bit obsessive about being clean and tidy. I have a friend on insta who is quite low as feels like a failure with her home and she now does the fly lady rountine but it’s really changed her. She dms me saying I can’t do everything on the list hmmm.Any how I love you more now you’ve written this as every time I see a post on cleaning I unfollow lol
Oh my goodness so glad I’m not the only one who thinks this way. These people are obsessed, as for “putting the sink to bed “ – it’s a sink not a child !! I love my house to be clean and tidy but there’s a limit any sane person can spend wiping down surfaces. As for the mental health aspect instead of being isolated at home with a Minky (what’s with naming sponges??)get out side , walk, breath fresh air and talk to real people that will benefit your state of mind more . Wow thank you for letting me get this off my chest xx
Very well said Lizzie. I totally agree.