Cleaning is latest online trend - 14th April 2023

One of the recent big social media trends is cleaning. The videos give simple suggestions on how to make your home nice and shiny, but they're also for people with serious dirt problems. And millions of people are curious to find out more.

'Cleanfluencer' Abbi is a single parent from Liverpool, England and she understands how important getting dirt off the oven and making the children's beds is. It stops her feeling stressed.

Abbi:"For me it's just like therapy, so if I have something on me mind, or I'm feeling anxious or stressed that day, I'll just start cleaning and I feel like it just takes me mind off things and then I feel more relaxed afterwards."

But it also gives Abbi an income as with each video she can earn between $720 and $1200 for advertising different companies' cleaning products.

Auri Kananen, a cleanfluencer from Finland, has over nine million followers on TikTok, with two million on YouTube. She's now started supporting people across the world and spends time searching for the dirtiest possible houses. She realises that a messy home can often mean there's a health issue.

Auri Kananen:"Usually people have some kind of mental health problem or some other tragedy or something has happened in their lives and then they send pictures of their homes to me. And of course I look for the dirtiest homes possible. That's my goal."

There's a huge difference in style with the video clips. Ann Russell, who's from England, likes to give detailed instructions on how to get things clean. It's necessary, she explains, because cleaning is a learned skill.

Ann Russell:"How on earth are you supposed to know? It's not some instinct to pick up a duster and a can of furniture polish. It's not, we're not born learning how to vacuum a carpet. It's something you have to be shown."

It appears the cleanfluencers have all the answers to a wide range of questions.