How cleaning became trendy

Move over mindfulness – sweeping, scrubbing and spraying are the new ways to find peace and inner harmony...

Yes, we know, it’s bonkers

To most of us, cleaning is a (sometimes tiresome) ritual that’s just part of life. So who knew toilets could be on trend or that Zoflora would become part of the zeitgeist?

It’s all part of the phenomenon that’s seeing countless women discover that getting their homes to look flawless is a cheap, enjoyable and satisfying way to make themselves feel good – and look good on Instagram. The social media platform is awash with clean-home hashtags, pictures of favourite products, sparkling kitchens and orderly hallways.

In part, this trend stems from decluttering gurus such as Marie Kondo, whose philosophy boils down to, “Discard everything that does not spark joy.”

But for those of us whose “Kondo” homes would be left empty shells, a more accessible housework heroine has emerged in Sophie Hinchliffe, an Essex hairdresser better known to her 2m Instagram followers as Mrs Hinch. She calls her cleaning cupboard

Narnia, has nicknamed her Minky cleaning cloth Minkeh, and has prompted a 25% upsurge in sales of old-school disinfectant Zoflora, as she shares hacks and talks us through her favourite cleaning routines in her immaculate @mrshinchhome. In the process she has launched a whole new movement that uses the power of cleaning to soothe the soul and calm anxiety.

Her new book, Hinch Yourself Happy, poses a devastatingly simple philosophy – that from dusting to vacuuming, following familiar rituals when cleaning can make us feel

we’ve achieved something, and therefore feel ultimately happier. Sophie has been refreshingly frank about how cleaning helps her to deal with anxiety and control her panic attacks. Many of her #mrshincharmy followers credit her with improving their mental health too. While some commentators are horrified at the idea of cleaning being a serious “thing” for women (aren’t we still struggling to be taken seriously beyond the home?), for fans it feels less like a retrograde movement and much more like taking back control of life.

Leading life coach Carole Ann Rice (realcoachingco.com) explains, “We all need order – and our homes should nurture us and be a place of refuge. If there is clutter, dirt and messiness, we can’t gather ourselves or feel in control. “So when we have tidied or cleaned, we feel we’ve made sense of mayhem. A breath of fresh air runs through us – order is resumed and control gained.”

So whether it’s the mindful flow of a methodical cleaning session, the ritual of ticking off jobs on a to-do list or the satisfaction of seeing your efforts pay dividends immediately, cleaning really does have the potential to improve your wellbeing.

And as Carole points out, “After all, if we can’t feel stable in our own environments, then when can we?” Mrs Hinch has clearly touched something deep in the nation’s psyche, so w&h met her to find out more with a good clean chat...